


A Demon's Tale

by swiftstar85



Series: Swiftstar's Naruto [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drama & Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inappropriate Humor, Mild Language, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Past Character Death, Sexual Tension, Suggestive Themes, Team as Family, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-02 06:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 195,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2802632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftstar85/pseuds/swiftstar85
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to The Sand Prince-Gaara returns to Konoha to join Naruto, Sakura and their new teammate, Sai into finding Sasuke and bringing him home. But along their adventures, the Akatsuki are still running loose and attacking Jinchuriki to collect the Tailed Beasts. And that is one thing that they must avoid, even if that means teaming up with the remaining Jinchuriki to protect their villages and each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, with exception of a few.

The sky above the Land of Lightning was always full of lightning and thunder, so it was no surprise that the sky was full of the flashing bolts of natural electricity and the crashing booms of thunder. The weather was usually stormy and rather cold. However, it was an unsually nice day for once. The sun was peering through somewhat dark storm clouds and it was actually a little warm for once. Everyone of the Hidden Cloud Village had to admit that.

Even the young Ninja, Yugito Nii.

Technically, Yugito Nii hated the weather of the Lightning Country. She absolutely hated it. She hated listening to the lightning and thunder clashing in the sky and she hated the cold, even if she was always warm. She spooked too easy and loud noises spooked her to no limit. She also hated the clouds. She hated the yellowish-white fluffy bits always blocking her view of the valley. She would always sit by her window, looking down from her room and trying to see the scenery. But it wasn't always easy because of the clouds. She was always unhappy whenever she couldn't see the lake in the valley.

But then again, who could be happy in a place where the villagers thought you were a monster just because you were the Jinchuriki of the Two Tailed Cat, Nekomata?

That was how it was for Yugito, almost her entire life in the Hidden Cloud Village. She had been shunned by many of the villagers just because she carried one of the Nine Bijuu. Many of the children made fun of her and the adults always gave her a look of disgust and distrust. There were only two people that treated her well and that was the Raikage and his younger brother, Killer Bee, whom also happened to be the Eight Tailed Jinchuriki. They actually cared about her and treated her like a human being while no one else did. They even treated her like she was family, even if she wasn't related to them at all. In a way, they spoiled her while letting her live in their mansion.

Now, Yugito was not originally from Kumogakure, the Hidden Village in the Clouds. She had not been born there or anything. So she technically wasn't one of them. But she had been born in the Lightning Country. She really didn't remember her former life though. She had only been a young child when she first met the Raikage and Killer Bee. As far as she could remember, she was from the country side. But nothing more than that. She didn't remember her parents or where she was actually born. All she remembered was that she had wandered the country, alone and always hungry. She had to look to the Nekomata for survival. The cat demon, in a way, had taught her how to hunt for her own food and how to survive in the wilderness.

But around the age of eight, she found her way into the Hidden Cloud Village. She had never seen a place like it and had really liked the sight of it. But as soon as she had stepped into the village, she was immediately confronted by Cloud Ninja. At first, the Ninja didn't know what to think of Yugito. They believed she was some sort of spy. After all, in the world of Ninja, even children could be spies. So they threatened her a little.

That didn't seem to sit too well with the Nekomata, because as soon as the Ninja threatened Yugito, it emerged from within and attacked the Ninja.

That was how Yugito met the Raikage and Killer Bee. After hearing the commotion about the monsterous cat, the two immediately joined the Cloud Ninja on the field to fight the cat. But one sight of it, which startled all, Killer Bee immediately went to the defense of the Two Tailed Cat. He had figured out that the host of the Cat was actually a child. He refused to let anyone hurt her and eventually had started talking softly to the Nekomata. It took a moment of calming it down, but he seemed to have tamed the beast just by talking to it.

After that, the Raikage and Killer Bee took a great liking to Yugito. They didn't see her as a monster or a weapon to use. They saw her as a frightened child who needed to hold someone's hand. After all, she was. The Raikage took Yugito into his home and took care of her with Bee's help. They were the only ones in the village that cared about her. They gave her almost anything she wanted and even taught her the ways of the ninja. In a way, they spoiled her rotten. And that didn't really help too much with the befriend of the other children. For the one thing that Yugito wanted the most, it was a friend. Now, she thought of Killer Bee as her friend, but in a way, he was more of a brother or a favorite uncle than a friend. He always treated her like she was apart of his family and she loved it. But all she wanted was a friend her age to play with her, to laugh with and just to have fun with. But every time she tried to befriend one of the other young kids in the village, she was treated the same. The children and the adults treated her like some hideous monster cat. And in a way, she couldn't blame them. How could she blame them when she could transform into a hideous cat with powers over fire? Even she had to admit it but the Two Tailed Cat was not the most loveliest of creatures. It was actually very ugly and monsterous looking. If that wasn't the worst part, people treated her like an ugly, monsterous creature either. It didn't really help either when the Two Tailed Cat was a very vain creature and was always suggesting ways of making her beautiful. In it's opinion, the wild and beastly looks were in.

Now, Yugito was not ugly. No, she was far from it. She was actually a very beautiful 15 year old girl, if only she could convince herself that. She was slightly tall for her age and had a feline look about her. Her skin was deeply tanned, almost the color of fresh earth and very fair. She had short violet colored hair, with the exception of a knee length thick strand of hair set at the base of her neck. Though it was more like a cat's tail than a pony tail. Yugito's eyes were a Amber yellow color with cat like slits as pupils. But what she loved most about herself was how her canines were sharp like a cat's fangs and how sharp her nails were, like cat claws. She used them now and then against those who ticked her off, which happened a lot with other Ninja of her class.

Though many thought of Yugito as a hideous monster, both the Raikage and Killer Bee saw her as what she really was. A beautiful creature. To them, she was as beautiful as a butterfly, which she really liked. They knew that she was beautiful, even others didn't think so. And it wasn't just her looks that they loved about her. It was her adorable personality. She sometimes acted like a curious kitten when it came to certain things. Still, the Raikage and Bee were her only friends.

"Yo! Yugito! What do you know! Going with the flow?"

Although, when Killer Bee started rhyming with everything he ever said, that really annoyed Yugito. That was all he ever did in conversations. He even took her own words and rhymed with them. A sharp tick formed on her temple, Yugito turned from her open window and looked at her only friend, giving him an annoyed look. "Bee! What did I tell you about rhyming around me?! You know it gets on my nerves!" She said grumpily.

Killer Bee, was to say the least, a very big man. And not fat big either. He was actually one of the tallest in the entire village, and built like an ox, which was said to be what the Eight Tailed beast looked like but Yugito never really got to see it. Killer Bee was forbidden to actually transform by his older brother. And knowing Bee, he wouldn't do it unless the situation called for it. He didn't even have an inch of fat on him. His skin was almost as dark as Yugito's was, if not darker. His eyes were dark brown, almost black but no one really got to see them very much because he was always wearing sunglasses over them. His hair was a bleached yellow, which came as an unusual combination for someone as dark as he was. He wore a white vest which hung off only on one shoulder, showing off his rock solid chest, and normal black ninja pants. With addition, he wore a long white cape like scarf around his neck. Even though he was a very odd sort of character, he had a huge heart within his huge chest. Especially for Yugito. Everyone knew how much the girl meant to him.

Grinning, Bee had that sly look on his face as if he was planning something. And Yugito already knew what it was because she began to glare at him. He paid no mind to her as he moved over to her and he opened his mouth to do the very thing that annoyed her. "It only gets on your nerves, because you don't know the right verbs. It annoys you because I know the right words. I only like rhyming and I know the right timing. Soon enough, the music industry will be doing the signing. I know it may seem alarming, but you know you find me so charming. So, don't start pouting or shouting. You know that I love you, Yu'. And you know that for you, everything I'll do. If you're upset you know what Big Bro'll do, he'll turn me into beef stew. Like me, he'd do anything for you. Just like I'd do that. So please smile and be happy, my lovely lil' cat." He told her as he gathered her up into his large arms and hugged her.

With an annoyed look on her face, Yugito let him hold her but as he did, she began to melt against him. She really found it so hard to stay mad at him. "I really hate you, Bee. Why's it so hard to stay mad at you?" She grumbled.

Bee laughed as he nuzzled her head, which she did right back with a pleasant smile on her face before he pulled away and beamed right down at her. "You can't really hate the Killer Bee, because you love me. And I love you too, Yu." He told her as he sat right next to her. Yugito just smirked as she leaned against his large shoulder and shook her head. She really couldn't help it at all but to feel content.

Before the two could get too comfortable and stare out at the scenery below the large Raikage's tower, there was a sharp rap on Yugito's door and a flustered looking Cloud Ninja came in. He looked as if he'd been running a mile, and he probably had while trying to find the two Jinchuriki. He looked as if he was terrified of something. "Killer Bee!" he paused seeing an annoyed Yugito next to the one he'd been looking for but then he shook his head. "Bee! You better come quick! A couple visitors just arrived and they're speaking to Raikage-sama! But by the looks of it, it's not a pleasant visit! They're demanding for...for..." he really couldn't finish so he just nodded towards Yugito.

Now, with a dark look on his face, Killer Bee stood up, along with Yugito and stomped right after the Cloud Ninja. Neither one, him or Yugito liked the sound of this. If there were visitors in the Hidden Cloud Village, demanding for Yugito, that could only mean one thing. They had heard about some of the troubles that these particular visitors had been causing. Of course, they couldn't really be sure that it was them, but there was one way of finding out. And if it really was them, then there would be a fight. So along the way, Bee and Yugito paused by Bee's room to get all seven of his swords, just in case. Then they followed the Cloud Ninja right up to the Raikage's office.

Upon reaching it, they heard voices within the room. They weren't pleasant voices either. There were two of them, along with the Raikage's, so there was three. There was also the clinking sound of the weights that the Raikage were lifting, which he did quite a lot when he had free time. He was always pumping iron and building up his muscles. It was a known fact that the Cloud Ninja used a lot of Taijutsu, which was their specialty. It even became Yugito's specialty. She was actually very fast on her feet and very flexible, all thanks to the Two Tailed Cat. However, the fact was, the two voices within the Raikage's office were very unfamiliar to Yugito and she did not like strangers very much. One of them was speaking even now, making a propostion of some kind.

"I don't think you understand what we are offering, Raikage." Spoke one of the strangers, whom possessed a very rough and deep voice.

Yugito and Bee both carefully peered around the door, carefully looking in to see what they were up against. As they had figured, there were two of them. They were both an odd pair. One was almost as big as Killer Bee. He had deep tanned skin, only it wasn't as dark as Bee's and Yugito's. But there was something odd about his skin. He looked as if he had been in a recent fight had to be stitched up, for there were stitches all over his body. His hair was hidden under a black bandana so the two Cloud Ninja couldn't tell what color it was. His eyes were almost black with green pupils. He wore a long black cloak with red clouds all over it though. It hid what he was actually wearing underneath. In all and all, he was ugly and creepy.

His partner, on the other hand, was very handsome, in a roguish way. He had very good looks and could have passed as a model of some sort more than a ninja. His features were rather boyish and yet, mischievous. His hair was silver-gray and slick back while he had a fair tan. His eyes were a wicked lavender color, twinkling with a trickster's delight. He wore some kind of amulet around his neck, which had an evil look about it. But like his partner, he wore a black cloak with red clouds.

"We are offering you and your village a life time support of the Akatsuki and to join our cause as we take over the entire continent. You can be apart of the wealthiest and most powerful village in the History of Ninja. All we ask in return is the Tailed beasts that your village posesses." The large stitched up Akatsuki member said.

"Yeah, god damn it. You want to be apart of that, right? Become a damn powerful village and take down all of your damn enemies? Just hand over the damn monsters and we'll make sure that your damn village don't get destroyed." The silver haired ninja said, rather rudely.

There was a loud clank as the Raikage dropped the weights heavily to the ground before standing up and glaring at the pair of Akatsuki. He really did not look amused at all of their demands. He actually looked furious. But he was sure keeping his head about it as he took a few steps towards the two. "So let me get this straight. You want me, the Raikage, to hand you, the Akatsuki, over my most precious pair of people, Bee and Yugito, just so that you can extract the Tailed Demons, Haichi and Nekomata, from their bodies, just so that you can become a part of some so called powerful village?" He asked, coldly.

"Yep! That sounds about damn right." The silver haired ninja, though he was already looking alert as if their was going to be a fight breaking loose any second.

The Raikage's teeth clicked loudly as he glared at the two before he balled up his fists. He looked as if he wanted to pound these two himself. "Are all of the Akatsuki as stupid as you two are?!" The two Akatsuki now frowned darkly at him. "You honestly think that I will hand over my two most precious people over to you just to be apart of your so called powerful village?! You two are the biggest clowns I have ever met! Are you even ninja?!" The Raikage demanded.

Now the two Akatsuki looked dangerous. They didn't seem to take insults too well. Especially after being called clowns more than ninja. The silver haired ninja reached up and unbuttoned his cloak and pushed one sleeve off his shoulders. "Oh, I think I'm going to enjoy sacrificing your damn measely life to my God." he said acidly.

WHAM!

The door flew open and crashed loudly against the wall as Yugito came storming in, looking furious that this man even threatened the life of the Raikage, more or less, the man who had taken care of her since she was eight years old. Her eyes were blazing with fury and her hair was bristoled as if she was a very angry cat. "How dare you?!" She shouted at the men, her claws out and ready to swipe someone. "How dare you threaten the life of a Kage, more or less our Raikage! I will slice your head right off your shoulders, you bastard!" She hissed angrily at the silver haired Akatsuki.

The Raikage stiffened when he saw both Yugito and Killer Bee. He knew this wasn't good. Especially when the two Akatsuki began smirking like that. They obviously saw Yugito and Bee for what they were. Gritting his teeth, he quickly moved in between Yugito and the Akatsuki, shoving the young girl back against Bee, who was looking just as dangerous. "Bee! Yugito! Get out of here, now! These two are Akatsuki! They will kill you both and I will not have that!" He ordered them.

"Big Bro, let us kill these so called pests who call their selves guests! You just sit back, prop up your feet and we'll take care of the rest!" Bee said darkly his hand grabbing at one of the swords on his back.

The Raikage shook his head as he turned and gave them a very sharp look. "NO! Get Yugito out of here, Bee! And stop that ridiculous rhyming! This isn't your so called right timing! Now do as I say, and get out of here! They will kill Yugito if they get a hold of her!" He shouted at his younger brother.

"Oh. You just made it damn easy." The silver haired Akatsuki said slyly smirking.

The other Akatsuki merely glanced at his partner and shook his head as he turned his eyes onto Yugito, who for some reason felt a strange shiver run up her back. She did not like the way that they were looking at her. "Hidan, don't kill everyone this time. It hurts our budget. Just remember the mission and get a hold of the Two Tailed Cat. We'll leave the Eight Tail to the Leader, like he said." he told the other, who only waved a hand at him as if dismissing him. Both Yugito and Bee didn't move to listen to the Raikage. They were not going to run away from this fight and let him be in danger because of these two. So they only lunged forward to fight the Akatsuki.

From outside, in the Hidden Cloud Village, most of the citizens of the Cloud didn't really know that there was a dangerous situation happening in their village. They just went on doing things that they normally did. Even several Cloud Ninja who patrolled the village didn't think that there was any danger. That is until the Raikage's office seemed to explode. The explosion made many people scream in horror and turn their eyes upward to see millions of black tenticles or threads now demolishing the building. They could even seen several Cloud Ninja immediately jumping forward to fight whatever threat there was in their village. But quickly, they were cut down by the strange threads. So there was only one thing that the civilians could do. Run away and scream for their homes.

High above their heads, the battle was being played out viciously. The Cloud Ninja were trying their hardest to cut the black threads flooding the area and trying to defeat the ninja controlling them. But they were being cut down by the threads like nothing.

The two Akatsuki proved to be more dangerous than all of the Cloud Ninja, along with the two Jinchuriki could imagine. It never crossed Yugito's mind that they were too dangerous for even her to handle. She soon discovered that when she tried to take on the silver haired Ninja. She quickly dodged the nasty scythe he was swinging at her before leaping in close to him and slicing at his throat with her sharp claws. To her satisfaction, her claws met the man's throat, slicing so deep that she could have just very well slice his head off his shoulders like she had said she would. She leapt back as the body fell forward and landed hard on the ground with a pool of blood now spilling under it. She was very proud of herself for taking down this enemy. She had...had...killed...him?

To her horror, the body pushed itself right back to its feet before a hand reached back and grabbed the head by the hair, keeping it straight, all the while the silver haired Akatsuki was now glaring at her. He was still alive! "Oh, you are so god damned dead! That actually hurt, you little bitch!" He snarled at her before thrusting forward with the scythe.

However, a Cloud Ninja came to her defense immediately, taking the blow for her. The scythe sliced right into his chest but before he could actually die, he whirled his head around with blood now spilling from his dying lips. "R-Run...Yu-Yugito! Please just run!" he begged her.

Horrified to actually ignore him, Yugito did just that. She turned and bolted away, feeling as if the terror was right on her heels. She couldn't actually believe it. She could have sworn she just killed that Akatsuki! But no! Even though his head had nearly been cut off his shoulders, he still lived! There was no doubt about it anymore! That Akatsuki was an Immortal! She had heard about them before. They were very rare in the world of Ninja. She had never seen one before and she knew very well that Bee and the Raikage hadn't either. But now, they had seen one. And he was now chasing after her. She could hear him chasing her. He was shouting the most crude and vicious things after her. But she just kept on running. She knew she had to get away from them. It was her they were after anyway!

Watch out! She heard the Cat within shout at her.

Yugito quickly leapt to the side as black threads came flying at her from behind. A few threads sliced her side, cutting it open a little but she ignored the mild pain. She just bolted in another direction, knowing that the two Akatsuki were chasing after her. She felt terror capturing her very soul. She knew she couldn't even spare a glance over her shoulder to see how close they were.

However, she soon found out when black threads stabbed into her thigh, trying to stop her. She let out a piercing yowl of pain as she was yanked to a stop. She whirled her head around, looking at the two approaching Akatsuki with pain and terror. They looked furious that they had to chase her in the first place.

Suddenly, something sliced into the black thread, and that something was Killer Bee's sword as he lunged in between her and the Akatsuki. He held up two of his swords, giving the two a very dangerous look. "Run, Yugito! Go! Just get out of here now! I'll hold them off!" He shouted, no longer deciding to use rhymes or rapping. The situation was too serious for it right now.

"But..." Yugito said painfully.

Bee turned his head sharply and gave her a sharp look. That was a look he had never given her before, but right now he wasn't in the mood to argue with her. "Run, dammit! Just run! I swear if you die, I will never forgive myself, Yu! Please, just go!" He yelled at her.

Wham!

A wave of black thread came flying at Killer Bee and hit him hard, causing him to fly several feet into the air away from them. The stitched up Akatsuki had sent the wave, of course. But his eyes were on Yugito, who cowered under his and his partner's eyes. They slowly moved towards her, almost stalking her. The silver haired Akatsuki smirked at her as he walked more proudly towards her. "All right, you damn cat. It's time to go. Be a good dead cat and come with us and we'll leave your damn village standing." He warned her.

Swallowing hard, Yugito stepped back before giving him a fierce look. She knew she was being foolish into showing these guys fear. But she knew she had to draw them away from the Village. She had to protect it. "You want me, come and get me." She said viciously before a burst of flames exploded all around her. She could see through the flames that the two Akatsuki members drew back a little in surprise. But if the flames surprised them, wait till they seen what was inside the flames. A second later, they got to. The flames turned into violent blue flames and the Nekomata showed itself to them, swinging the two large tails behind it. It snarled at them as it turned slightly away.

As she said, You want us, come and get us! The Two Tailed Cat snarled before it bolted away from them.

Cursing loudly, the silver haired Akatsuki, Hidan ran after her, along with his partner. They knew they had to catch the stupid cat before it escaped. If they didn't, they knew very well that the Leader would punish them. And knowing the Leader, it would be Hidan who took most of the punishment. After all, he couldn't actually die. They rushed after the fiery cat.

They didn't have to go too far though. The Nekomata lead them straight into the sewers under the village, and eventually to a large pipe overlooking the ocean. It was here that the two Akatsuki cornered the Two Tailed Cat, who turned and spat at them. It spat fire towards the Akatsuki, who tried to dodge. The cat lunged forward, swiping at them and knocking them both off their feet. Hidan swore loudly as he climbed to his feet glaring at the demonic cat. He paused to see blood dripping off some of the black threads belonging to Kakuzu. Smirking, he quickly reached over and wipe the threads with his hand before smearing Yugito's blood onto his scythe. "You want to play hard ball, you stupid damn cat, let's see how you like this!" he shouted at her before swinging his scythe and hitting his own leg with it, cutting deep.

It was just as the Nekomata was lunging at them too. But when Hidan sliced his own leg, the Cat felt pain shot up its own leg, causing it to scream. It was as if it had recieved the blow itself. The Nekomata sailed right over the two Akatsuki's leg and went crashing to the ground with blood now running down its leg, in the same spot Hidan had stabbed himself.

"Good job, Hidan. You've slowed it down." Kakuzu said as he started towards the Two Tailed Cat. He was even more pleased when the cat shrunk and turned back into the girl they were after. He beckoned to her as she was struggling to her feet. "Come with us, girl. We'll make sure your death isn't too painful."

Yugito glared at the two as she shakily got to her feet. She took several steps back towards the entrance of the pipe. Her leg was in a lot of pain and it was bleeding pretty bad. She saw the two Akatsuki stiffen when they saw how close she was getting to the edge. She merely glanced over her shoulder to see that there was a fifty drop into the ocean right behind her.

"Do not do what I think you are going to do." Kakuzu warned now gritting his teeth.

Hidan nodded as he slowly approached her. He knew that they were treading dangerous grounds now. They knew if they didn't get her away from that edge, she could fall. "Come here, you little bitch." He said, trying to sound soothing.

Her eyes flashing angrily, Yugito turned her eyes back onto the two, looking very annoyed. Her teeth was clenched tightly as she stepped back closer to the edge. She was getting tired of that guy, Hidan calling her a bitch. "I'm not a bitch! Bitches are dogs!" She spat. "I am a cat!" She then turned and leapt right off the pipe.

"FUCK!" Hidan shouted as he lunged after her with Kakuzu, but both of them stopped at the edge and looked down just in time to see the girl fall right into the raging waters of the ocean. They both began cursing violently as they watched her completely disappear in the water. For a long time, they stood there, waiting to see if she would come back up but she never did. "God damn it! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!" He shouted now gripping at his silver hair with rage.

Kakuzu just stood there for a long time glaring at the waves that the girl just leapt into. But then he sighed as he turned his eyes onto Hidan, who was now slicing angrily at the walls of the pipe. "Pein is going to be angry." He stated the obvious.

Hidan turned sharply and gave his partner a look that clearly said "No Duh!" He looked as if he wanted to hit his partner very hard. "NO FUCKING DUH, KAKUZU!" He roared at the top of his lungs. "AND GUESS WHO'S GOING TO TAKE THE BLUNT OF IT! THE GOD DAMNED IMMORTAL! ME! I'M THE GOD DAMNED IMMORTAL!"

"Calm down, Hidan. Or I'll kill you." Kakuzu said dryly. Hidan's only reply was flipping him off before he returned to swinging his scythe at the wall and leaving quite a mess to try and get rid of his rage.

Of course, when they actually reported to the Leader, stating that they lost the Two Tailed Cat, the Leader promised that when he saw the two, they would be punished. And terribly. But either way, not only had the Akatsuki lost the Two Tailed Cat, they lost the One Tailed Tanuki. It had some how escaped from their grasp, due to someone screwing up the Extraction on purpose. Things were definitely not looking good for the Akatsuki.


	2. Chapter One

It had almost been two months now since the day Sunagakure Village had received it's freedom from the Akatsuki. And for two very long, hard working months, the people of the village worked hard to restore all that was destroyed. They had rebuilt the ruined buildings and restored the Gates of the Sand Village. They had not only worked on the village, trying to repair it, but they worked on their social skills a little. They knew they hadn't been the most friendly people of the Hidden Villages. But it was all because of their new Kazekage that they were changing in a positive way.

Gaara had worked very hard on restoring order in the Hidden Sand Village for the past two months. He had gone through a lot of sleepless nights, not that he slept anyway, and helped fix all that was broken. He had buildings rebuilt and being repaired and even himself had fixed the Gates of Suna. He had even passed a few new laws. The new laws suited the people just fine. Especially the Law on Bullying children. Some Sand Ninja didn't like that though. Especially the bullying ninja who had tortured the young boy, Chiquoi. It was rather funny actually. Not too long after his recovery, Gaara had gone into the Village, just to visit with some of the villagers and let them get to know him. It was then he saw the young child, Quoi getting beaten up on again. Stone faced, the young Kazekage went over to intervene. Calling out sand, he knocked the Sand Ninja right on their butts after they had gotten down kicking Quoi around. They had angrily stood up and looked at who had shoved them only to come face to face with the cold tempered Fifth Kazekage himself. They really hadn't known what to say when they saw him. But Gaara sure knew what to say.

His face very impassive and cold, he looked the Sand Ninja each in the eyes as he used his sand to help Quoi stand up and push him towards Baki for him to take care of him. "The bullying will stop right now. If I catch you ever beating on the boy again, or any child in this village, there will be a terrible price to pay." He said coldly before he turned and looked around at all of the Sand Ninja, very sternly. "That goes for everyone. The child abuse in this village has gone on long enough. It will stop! The children are our future and we are beating that future into the dust! That will not do! No more hitting children just because you feel like it! If they need to be punished, there are other ways of doing it! But the beatings will stop! If they don't, those who beat the children," He turned sharply and looked squarely at the Ninja who had been hitting on Quoi. "You will deal with me."

With that said, he turned and walked straight over to a surprised Quoi. The young child, obviously, remembered Gaara as the man who protected him from the Akatsuki, Deidara. He was just stunned to learn that he was the new Kazekage. And as the Kazekage approached, the boy threw himself to the ground, bowing before him. "Thank you, Kazekage-sama! I'm sorry for being such a..." He really didn't get to finish.

Gaara had bent down next to him and gently touched his back and shoulder, making the boy look up in surprise. The young red head just slowly shook his head as he lightly pulled him back to his feet. "Don't grovel in the dirt, Quoi. Not for me. Not for anyone. Future Sand Ninja will stand up tall and full of pride." he told him gently. "And you will become one of my most proud Sand Ninja, won't you?"

Quoi stared at him with surprise and alarm but his eyes filled with tears as a meek smile appeared on his face. He nodded vigorously as he clutched onto Gaara's arm. He looked very touched that the Kazekage would say something like that. "I will sure try, Kazekage-sama! I will do my very best!" His face then fell a little as he looked slightly away. "But...the instructors say that I'm a failure. I can't do Jutsu very well. They say that I'm an insult to the Great Sand Village." He told him, miserably.

"Hmm." Gaara hummed with a faint smile on his face before he stood before Quoi. "Is that what they say? Well, if that's the case, then I guess they aren't very good instructors if they think you won't be a Ninja. I suppose you'll need a better Instructor. Therefore, I will take you on as my own apprentice. I will teach you myself."

Everyone looked surprised at Gaara's decision. Some of the ninja even shouted out their protests, including a few of the bullies. They shared their concerns that the Kazekage shouldn't even try to waste his time on the boy who always goofed around and got into trouble. Of course, Gaara silenced them with a stern look as he placed his hand onto a stunned Quoi's shoulder and gently pushed him towards his older sister. "Temari, Quoi now lives alone in his house, as I understand it. He's still a little too young to be living by himself. So why don't you just set him up in our house? He can stay with us. Unless you and Kankuro thinks that's a bad idea."

Temari smiled and shook her head as she took Quoi by the shoulders. She and Kankuro were both smiling and shaking their heads. They obviously agreed with Gaara. So without even saying anything to their youngest brother, they both led Quoi home to pack so he could move into their mansion.

"Kazekage-sama, why would you want to waste your time on..." One of the Sand Ninja was saying.

Gaara turned his eyes sharply onto that Ninja, giving him a very stern look but he shook his head after a moment. He slowly turned just to look at each of the Sand Ninja. "I can see that we're having problems teaching the future generations of Sand Ninja. Obviously, none of you have been trying to teach the children. Well, that will change as well." He looked at Baki. "Baki, I will leave it to you to reorganize the new Ninja Academy. You will go through each Sand Ninja and decide who is right to teach and who is not. If anyone has any problems with the new changes, direct them to me." He told him.

Baki smiled curtly but nodded as he looked around at the uneasy group of Sand Ninja. "Yes, sir. Leave it to me." he told him before he began barking orders at a few Ninja to meet him early in the morning at the old Ninja Academy. And Gaara knew very well that he could depend on Baki to restore order of the Ninja Academy.

That was nearly two months ago, and now it was two months later.

During the past two months, Gaara had worked very hard on the restoration of the Sand Village. He had done a lot and had worked harder than anyone else had. Everyone admitted that he had. He even found time to train Quoi, which he learned had the same attitude as Naruto, which, again, amused him. The boy was very enthusiastic and optimistic about most things. He was always excited about getting started with learning Jutsu. And it was hilarious when Quoi always got onto Kankuro's nerves, just like how Naruto did. There were times in the Kazekage mansion that Kankuro started yelling at Quoi for being so annoying. At first, Quoi would cringe under his rage and expect to get beaten by him. But then three different things would actually happen.

One, Kankuro would draw back, realizing that he was actually causing a little harm on the boy.

Two, Temari smashed her giant fan against his head, sending him crashing into the wall.

And three, Gaara practically made his older brother eat sand while he simply looked at his new apprentice and told him that he didn't need to be afraid of an idiot like Kankuro.

It was at that time, Quoi began meekly standing up for himself by telling Kankuro to shut up and leave him alone. Although, Kankuro would start shouting again, but soon after, those three things happened again. Slowly, Quoi learned that he could defend himself without Temari and Gaara standing up for him. Of course, Kankuro and Quoi didn't always argue and bicker. Whenever Quoi got a little excited and started talking about how he was doing okay with training, the Puppet Master would smirk at the boy and reach over, ruffling his hair as if telling him good job. Even Temari started to compliment on the kid. All three siblings were growing very fond of Quoi in their own ways.

Many things were changing for Suna and in a positive way. The people were becoming friendlier and braver with one another. They were happy with Gaara as the Kazekage because of all that he had done and was doing for them. They were growing to love him, in a way. The Fifth Kazekage didn't get angry when people were loud in the early morning or when they accidently spilt water all over his feet and pants from being so nervous when he made his visits in the Village. He never got angry at them. He would just softly tell them that it was okay and there was no harm done. He was becoming apart of their lives and they warmly welcomed him.

And if that wasn't enough, the newly reorganized Ninja Academy had opened only a week after Baki was put in charge of it. He had gone through and spoke to many of the Sand Ninja and Instructors, deciding and choosing who was worthy of teaching the future of the Sand Ninja. There had been a lot of Ninja he went through to find the right Instructors. But with a little bit of patience, he managed it.

Two months later, almost everything was going just as Gaara hoped it would. Almost all of the buildings were restored and the people were happy. He felt a little proud of all of the accomplishments that all of the village had done. But...there was still the fact that he felt a little homesick for Konohagakure. He missed the people of the village, the green trees, the cool rain. He had even had a large green house built in the mansion, having lush greenery planted inside it. His gardens were meant to help him remember the forests of the Fire Country. But it just wasn't the same. Gaara especially missed Naruto, Sakura and the rest of his Leaf friends. He missed all of them and would stare off into the night with a lonely look on his face. He longed for them again. Especially for Sakura. He really wished he could see her more often. It wasn't really fair on either one of them if they were going to be together that they couldn't BE together. They couldn't spend time with one another if they were so far apart. That was why he made his decision.

And that was why all activity in the Council room stopped when the young Kazekage made the announcement that he would be leaving the Hidden Sand Village for a little while.

There was a very long silence as everyone stared at the young Kazekage with surprise. They couldn'e believe he had just said what they thought he did. The Elders all looked more alarmed than Baki, Temari and Kankuro did. They were actually aware of Gaara's intentions. He had spokent with them the night before.

"Lord Kazekage?! You're leaving?! But...but...the village...you're our Kazekage! You can't leave us! We need you!" One Elder complained.

Gaara just turned his eyes onto that Elder and slowly shook his head as he went over to the window, looking out at the village below. "The Sand Village is progressing fairly, Elder-sama. The rebuilding process is going well enough without me having to watch the builders all of the time. As it is, there's hardly anything else to rebuild and repair. The people knows the laws by heart now. They have had no troubles with it and the Ninja Academy is doing just fine with Baki in charge of it. I have done all of the scroll work that needed to be done and don't need to do anymore for now." He explained quietly. "The Sand Village can manage without me for a few weeks. I only want to travel to the Leaf Village and check up with them, see how they are doing. Besides, I am aware that the Chuunin Exams are coming up. So I want to be there to watch them. And I will be taking Quoi with me."

"Quoi?!" One Elder exclaimed in shock.

Another shook his head, looking as if he didn't agree at all. And he really didn't. He and many of the other Elders didn't agree that Gaara should take his apprentice. "Lord Kazekage-sama! You cannot be serious! Quoi isn't even a ninja yet! He hasn't even become Genin! He doesn't take his ninja studies serious enough and he's always goofing off! You cannot even think that he'll be ready for the Chuunin..."

He received dry looks from not only Gaara, but his siblings and Baki as well. Temari just shook her head as she folded her arms over her chest and gave the Elder a very annoyed look. "He said he was taking him with him, not entering him in the exams." She replied dryly.

The Elder flushed with embarrassment. But others shook their heads, still protesting to the idea. They didn't actually say anything but one finally did. He stood up, frowning at Gaara. "Kazekage-sama, forgive me for speaking out of place but I must protest on both accounts. You are needed here in the Sand Village. And your apprentice, Chiquoi is not ready to leave the village for anything. He's a complete goof off and he can barely hold out against you and in a way, you take it easy on him because he's still a student." He shook his head at the young red head. "What if the Akatsuki comes after you again, due to you still possessing Shukaku? How will you fight them with Quoi at your side? The boy cannot fight and surely you can't protect him at the same time."

The very mentioning of the Akatsuki made Gaara's eyes narrow a little too seriously. It was a look that still made the Elders a little uneasy. They knew better than to mention them in front of him. Especially on how much he hated them. "If the Akatsuki knew what was good for them, they will stay the hell away from me." The young Kazekage said almost too darkly. "Besides, if they were going to attack me again, they would have done it when I was weakened. They don't plan to be coming after me for a while. I know that for certain. And even if they did, there would be nothing holding me back from destroying them. I would not let them hurt Quoi or anyone else. If it eases your minds at all, I won't be going alone with him. Kankuro will be coming with me."

Of course, the Elders all sweat dropped and look far from being at ease. For it, Kankuro glared at each one of the Elders who looked doubtful.

"As it is, don't worry about Quoi. He will be fine with me. I would not put him in any danger. The reason of my taking him is because he goofs off too much." Gaara explained and got confused looks for his words. He only shook his head as he looked each one of the Elders in the eyes. "Quoi is old enough to learn that he cannot goof around his entire life. He needs to be shown that. That is why I am taking him to the Hidden Leaf Village. There is only one ninja that we all know that used to goof off as much as Quoi does. And even today, he's one of the strongest Ninja we know." He told them.

A few of the Elders smiled, already knowing who their Kazekage was talking about. There was only one ninja that goofed around that was pretty strong. They knew that Gaara could only be speaking about his best friend, Konoha Village's number one, maverick ninja, Naruto Uzumaki. So the one Elder that wasn't against Gaara's decision just nodded. "Very well, Lord Gaara. Enjoy yourself on your trip." He simply said.

All of the other Elders whirled around looking at him with horror. "Ebizu-sama!" They all shouted in unison.

The oldest Elder rolled his aged eyes and waved away their protests as if they were just bothersome flies. He didn't seembed bothered at all by the younger Elders. "Young ones, stop badgering already. The Lord Kazekage is still a youngling. He's not even 17 years old yet and he's the Kazekage. We picked him to become the Fifth Kazekage because of his power and because he had saved the Sand Village. But he has not seen enough of the world yet. The former Kazekages, the First, the Second, the Third and the Fourth has traveled the world in their time and has learned much. The Fifth, however, has not. He has only seen the Forests of the Fire Country, the sparkling waters of the Wave Country and the Desert of the Wind Country. He has not seen the high mountains of the Rock Country, or traveled through the storms of the Lightning Country. Nor has he ventured the grassy pride lands of the Fang and Claw Countries. He must do these things if he wishes to learn more. He can't do that by just sitting around here, doing paper work all of the time." He then looked at Gaara, smiling. "I know we apointed Gaara as the Fifth Kazekage, and it is his duty to run this village and pass laws upon the Village. But I think he should take the time off. Since he came to us as the Fifth Kazekage, he has spent numerous nights working harder than any of us put together. He has only slept twice since the past two months. Unlike us, he can go that amount of time without sleep. So out of every one in the entire village, our Fifth Kazekage has worked the hardest and longest. So, I say, allow him to go on this trip with his apprentice. I think they will be both be fine. As my sister, Chiyo-baasama used to say, one student learns faster when doing." he finished. "I think that Lord Gaara's student will learn more out on the field than he will in a class room."

There was a very long silence as everyone took Ebizu's words to thought and heart. They knew he had a point. They all knew that Gaara had done a tremendous amount of work, unlike them. He had even done some of the rebuilding of the buildings. So they could not deny it. Therefore, they knew that they should grant him his request.

With a sigh, one of the oldest Elders nodded as he stood up and stood tall. "Very well then. If we all agree with this then, I believe two weeks is fair enough..." he paused when the air became very thick as Gaara, his brother and sister and Baki gave him a stern look for it. They all knew very well that two weeks was not enough time for Gaara's vacation. Not if he was going to relax a little. "...Uh..."

"Four weeks, if not five." Ebizu butted in. That should be enough time for you to travel to the Hidden Leaf Village and relax a little, Gaara-sama." He smiled gently at the young red head. "And it might just give you some time to finding your old teammate with your friends."

Hearing that, Gaara's face softened. He knew very well what Ebizu was talking about. He had shared his concerns with the old man about Sasuke and how he left the village. The old man had kindly listened and had offered his advice to helping getting Sasuke back. It had been pretty good advice too. Gaara thought so anyway. He would consider on his advice, along with Naruto and Sakura. So with a nod, Gaara turned slightly away. "I will be leaving in the morning then with Quoi and Kankuro. The three of us will travel straight to the Hidden Leaf Village. In the mean time, Temari will be left in charge with Baki in her stead." He told them before he left the meeting.

The news of leaving the Sand Village actually excited Quoi to no limit though. When Gaara had told him that night that they would be taking a trip to the Konoha Village, he literately started bouncing around the room, cheering and annoying the crap out of Kankuro. The young boy had gotten way too excited that it was literately making the Puppet Master go nuts. It actually made both Temari and Gaara smirk as they watched the Puppeteer try and chase him down to stop him from getting so excited. By the time night fell, Quoi was still excited and could hardly sleep. It was when Kankuro decided to gas him with Sleeping Gas to make him shut up and fall asleep.

Gaara's main attention throughout the entire night was on the thought that he was going to see his friends again. It made him smile to think about them. He wondered how they were doing. He also wondered when Team Kakashi was going to be heading out to the mission to get Sasuke back. He hoped they hadn't gone yet. He wanted to be with them when they did, which made him frown. He wondered if it was a good idea in taking Quoi with him. There could be a chance that he would have to leave him in the Leaf Village for a little while if Team Kakashi really was going out on the mission. If that was the case, maybe it was a good idea to leave him in the Sand Village. He was starting to wish he could turn back the time a little and take back his word of taking Quoi. The Elders might have been right on this one. But it was too late now.

"Gaara, I'm going to go to bed now. Just coming to wish you good night." came Temari's voice from his doorway. But he didn't turn away from his window. She noticed the look on his face though. "Hey, you okay?"

The young Kazekage didn't reply for a moment but stared out into the night sky. He let out a low sigh, too quiet for Temari to hear though. "Do you think I'm being a fool?" He murmured quietly. He could sense the surprised look on her face at his question. There was a pause before he turned his sea-foamed colored eyes onto his oldest sibling, frowning a little. "Do you think me a fool for taking Quoi from the Village? He's not a ninja and yet, I'm taking him away from his home when he's not ready. I shouldn't take him, should I?"

There was another pause before Temari's face softened and she moved towards him, her arms folding over her chest as she tilted her head to the side. "Gaara, you are Quoi's mentor. His teacher and his friend. And you are the only person he has in this world now. It's up to you if you take him or not. Not the Elders and not mine. But if you truly want my opinion, I think you should take him with you. Even if it does get a little dangerous. You are strong enough to protect him and you can. If the Akatsuki was to attack you and Kankuro, and Quoi, you both could protect him because he's only one person. There would be only one person you had to protect and not an entire village. And I know you can. Yes, Gaara. Take Quoi with you. He'll learn a lot faster if you take him out of the Village." She shook her head as she looked out the window, towards the Ninja Academy. "The Ninja Academy still needs work and Baki's doing his best. But it's no place for Quoi. He's not the kind of kid who should be in a classroom all day, learning all of the basics. He'll learn faster out there, with you. He's like Naruto, in a way. And even you helped him understand things while on missions and stuff like that. It'll be the same for Quoi."

"If Team Kakashi goes on that mission for Sasuke's Retrieval, there's no chance I can take him with me, Temari. It'd be too dangerous." Gaara added, merely glancing at her. "What then?"

Temari met his eyes, smiling softly at her brother. "Then leave him in the Leaf Village. He'll learn more there than he will here. Leave with your old teacher, Iruka if you have to. Or Jiraiya, though I don't know if that'd be a good idea. But if you leave Quoi here, he'll be so mad at you by the time you get back. He'll think you're ditching him." She told him.

Gaara snorted with mild humor as he looked back out the window at the night air. He figured she had a point. But then again, if he left Quoi in the Sand Village, the young student would still think that. Still, Temari had a point. If he left Quoi in the Sand Village, there was no way he would survive without Gaara. He knew very well that the bullying Sand Ninja blamed the young apprentice for getting into so much trouble with the Kazekage. He had heard all of the rumors of how they wanted to pay the little brat back for their demotion. Even if he was the Kazekage, he couldn't stop the hatred that filled their hearts, after all. He could protect Quoi by killing the Sand Ninja himself, but what kind of leader did that for one boy just because the Ninja didn't like him?

'No, Temari is right.' Gaara thought. 'I should take Quoi. He'll be in more danger here. Baki or Temari won't be able to protect him from the Sand Ninja all of the time while I'm gone.'

'Ugh. But he's so annoying. Cute, but annoying.' Shukaku grumbled.

A smile curled on Gaara's lips at the sand demon's words and he glanced to the side as if looking at the demon, himself. 'I can't believe you just said the word cute.' He teased the demon, getting a little growl from the demon.

'Shut up!' The sand demon growled but Gaara could feel a little heat within his head. He almost grinned, knowing that the Sand Demonic spirit was blushing.

Temari saw the smirk, nearly grin, and smiled herself. She knew very well that when Gaara went quiet and then suddenly started smiling like that, he was talking to Shukaku. She couldn't help but laugh within to think that Gaara still had the Shukaku and they were on better terms. In truth, it had surprised her and everyone else when they learned he still had the sand demon. But to think that Shukaku was more like a friend to her little brother now, it was laughable. Stunning, but laughable. But shaking her head, she reached over and tapped Gaara's shoulder, getting him to look at her again. "I'm going to sleep now. I think it's best if I do because if I'm going to be running the Sand Village while you're gone, I better be ready for a very boring day tomorrow." She remarked, now rolling her eyes.

Gaara smirked seeing that look. He knew very well she was talking about the scroll work. They both hated doing all the paper work and having to fill out forms. It was a wonder that they hadn't lost their minds doing them yet. "All right. Good night, Temari. We will be leaving early in the morning." He told her. Then he watched as his sister left the room before he went back to admiring the star lit sky. 'I'm on my way, Sakura, Naruto. I'm coming to full fill my promise.'

Early the next morning, Gaara had to wake up Quoi, which proved to be quite the chore. The kid slept like a rock. He was nearly impossible in waking up. But the young Kazekage had his ways of waking up his apprentice. It only took morning rolls to do that. The kid might have been a deep sleeper but with a whiff of breakfast, he woke up faster than he usually fell asleep. Which was actually pretty fast.

The young Kazekage also had to see to that Quoi packed the right supplies, since he really didn't have any experience with camping or even leaving the Village. In fact, the young boy had never even been outside of the Gates of the Sand Village. So Gaara pretty much had to stand in his room and tell him what he needed to be ready. He instructed him to make sure he had the right clothes, which became very tough. All Quoi had was summer wear. And he knew that it would be a little colder in the Fire Country than the Desert of the Wind. He figured they would have to purchase some clothes for Quoi when they reached the Fire Country.

Finally, the three of them set out on their little adventure towards the Land of Fire. Temari, Baki and several Sand Ninja were seeing them off of course. Even some of the Elders had decided to get up to see them off. They wished Gaara, Kankuro and Quoi luck on their journey, and they did really mean it. Some of them seemed to be happy that Gaara was taking his apprentice. One even commented on the fact that after this trip, Quoi would probably would take things more seriously about his ninja studies and learn a lot more. Especially after visiting the Leaf Village. Even they had to admit it, but the Leaf Village was the best place to actually learn the ways of the ninja. Especially a kid like Quoi. They knew very well that the Hidden Leaf Village might help their young Kazekage put his young apprentice in line. If they didn't, they knew that a certain blonde best friend of the Kazekage would. It made many of the Elders grin at the idea.

The journey started out just fine. Gaara, Kankuro and Quoi really didn't have any problems at all as they started out across the desert. But as the sun rose higher, it proved just to be a little too much on Quoi. He wasn't really used to traveling at all. So half way through the day, he nearly collapsed from the heat and exhaustion. Kankuro rolled his eyes and decided to carry him through the rest of the way when he got too tired.

For almost three days it took them to get to the Fire Country, due to Quoi being needed to carried when he got too tired. He was starting to make it a habit of asking Kankuro to carry him. Even though the Puppet Master didn't mind it so much, due he considered it being apart of his training, Gaara started to scold his young apprentice and told him that he would have to walk from now on. He knew very well that Quoi was just being a little lazy.

"Quoi, I know you're young and you're not used to walking so long, but you need to learn." Gaara scolded him after he had asked Kankuro to carry him again, even though he wasn't tired. "If you're going to be a ninja, you need to train yourself to start walking for a long period of time."

So after that, Quoi began walking and didn't complain about it.

Still, it was a little tough on Gaara's apprentice. Especially they finally did reach the borders of the Fire and Wind Country. As soon as they reached the forests and started travelling through the paths, it proved to be very cold on Quoi's part. Especially at night. Gaara could hear Quoi's teeth start chattering as he laid in his sleeping bag. With a faint smile on his face, the young Kazekage would give his apprentice his jacket to wear at night, just to stay warm. The best part was, the young apprentice was enjoying the scenery. He had never seen so much green before. The Country of Fire was a whole new world for the young ninja student.

It was around noon when the Gates of Konohagakure Village appeared at the end of the main road. A certain peace settled over Gaara, making him faintly smile as he, Kankuro and Quoi approached the village. He felt as if he was now home. He had missed this place a lot. It wasn't his true home, he knew that, but it was where he had grown up. It was the one place that he felt he belonged to.

Leading the way, Gaara walked right through the gates, pausing to look at the two guards, who looked so bored that they could fall asleep at any minute. But when the three arrived, they were immediately jolting up right. One of the guards was one that Gaara didn't know. But the other was one of the old bullies who used to pick on him. When that guard saw Gaara, he relaxed with a grin curling on his face. He actually looked pleased to see the young red head. "Well, well, well. Look who's come home." He murmured as Gaara approached him. "Welcome back, Gaara." He then blinked looking brightly. "Oh! That's right! It's now Lord Kazekage, isn't it?" Gaara smirked at the old bully and shook his head as he stood tall. He couldn't only nod, which made the Ninja in front of him cringe a little and rub the back of his neck with a sheepish smile on his face. "Geez. Makes me wish I didn't pick on you when we were kids."

That perked up Quoi's attention. He frowned a little as he took a few curious steps forward and looked up at the guard. "Wait. You used to bully Lord Gaara?" He asked, frowning.

The Leaf ninja looked down at Quoi, almost surprised that he was even there. He hadn't even noticed the boy at all. His attention had been on mostly Gaara. But after a second, he smiled faintly and nodded. "Yeah. I was a real bonehead as a kid. Most of the kids back then were. But we've learned our lessons over the years." he then turned his eyes back onto Gaara, motioning to him. "I mean, look at the kid that I used to bully! The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village now! He's really showed us, haven't you?" he asked, enthusiastically. "Now, we just have to wait to see that blockhead friend of yours become Hokage like he keeps badgering us about. It should be interesting when he does become Hokage."

The mentioning of Naruto only made Gaara smile faintly before he looked towards the village. He knew it wouldn't be too long before Naruto and Sakura heard that he was back in the village. The news traveled very fast in Konoha. So it wouldn't be long when they came looking for him. In the mean time, he looked to Kankuro and Quoi. "We're going to go see the Lady Hokage first. I think it best if she knew we were here first." he told them, whom both nodded.

The Ninja, however, frowned as if he thought that was a bad idea but then he shrugged. "Okay. But becareful. She's in a mood today. At least that's what I heard." he warned them.

Gaara frowned at hearing that but he figured that he would find out what was going on once he got to Tsunade's office. He could only wonder though. So, glancing over at his brother and apprentice, he motioned them to follow. He lead both of them down the street, now ignoring those who stopped to stare at him with surprise. Many of the people of the village recognized him and had heard what he had done in the Land of Wind. Some even smiled and waved at him cheerfully, greeting him. It made the young Kazekage a little happy to see that most of the people were happy to see him. He had never been welcomed like this before. At least by most of the villagers. The Leaf Ninja hardly had a problem with him since they had gotten to know the real him.

And Gaara was right when he knew that it wouldn't take long for the news of his arrival to get around.

Because as soon as he and his two companions were almost at the Administration building, Gaara felt a certain Chakra energy now zooming towards him. A certain familiar Chakra. Smiling, he turned around to see a very energetic blonde ninja running towards them, grinning like the idiot he could act like now and then. "Gaara! Hey, Gaara! You're home! You're here!" Naruto was yelling as he rushed towards his best friend.

Of course, he wasn't alone. There were actually others with him. Rock Lee was running after him as well as Kiba and Akamaru. They were all grinning as they hurried towards him, Kankuro and Quoi. However, Gaara felt something grab a hold of his jacket, which made him blink in surprise. He turned his head and looked down at who was holding onto him, only to see his very nervous looking apprentice. Smiling, Gaara, shook his head and turned his head back only to see Rock Lee lunge forward, looking ready to hug him...only to run head long right into a sand wall.

"Don't even think about it." Gaara said, though he sounded amused. He then turned his attention onto Naruto as he moved closer and threw his arm around his shoulder. He merely glanced at his best friend, who was grinning at him. "Hello, Naruto."

Naruto just kept on grinning, not even noticing Quoi at all while Kiba and Akamaru had. They were looking at him with interest as he cringed a little and moved closer to Gaara, who didn't pay any attention to him. "Man, Gaara! It's about time you got back! I've been so bored lately! And Granny Tsunade wouldn't let us go on a mission 'cause we have to have new teammates! It's only been me and Sakura!" He then grinned when Gaara's eyes lit up a little at the sound of Sakura's name. "Oh man! Wait till Sakura sees you! She's going to totally flip! She's been kind of depressed because you were stuck in the Sand Village."

Gaara's face softened to hear that and he looked down at the ground as he thought about Sakura. "I've missed her too." He murmured to his best friend. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about you and her. That's why I came here."

The blonde knucklehead ninja just grinned at him as he pulled away from his friend and gave his shoulder a light punch. But then he turned his attention onto Kiba and Akamaru as they moved closer, their eyes still on Quoi. The dog like ninja just folded his arms and nodded to the boy next to Gaara. "Hey, Gaara. Who's the kid?" He asked. Now, Naruto blinked in surprise and looked at Quoi, who cowered a little.

Smiling faintly, Gaara looked down at Quoi, pulling slightly away from him. And when he tried to move closer again, the young Kazekage used his hand to pull him off softly. "Quoi," He told him quietly. "What did I tell you before? This village is full of friends. You don't need to be afraid."

Quoi glanced up at Gaara before he took a deep breath and nodded. He forced a smile onto his face and moved forward where the others could see him. He gave each of them a respective bow from the waist. "Hello. I'm Chiquoi. Quoi for short. I am Gaara-senpai's apprentice and have come to accompany him here. He wanted to show me the village he grew up in and even show me what a ninja really means." he told them, sounding way too formal.

"WHOA!" Naruto exclaimed in shock before looking wide eyed at Gaara. He even stepped back while pointing at the young boy next to him. "Gaara! You have an apprentice now?! When did this happen?!"

Gaara looked at the blonde and shook his head as he kept a faint smile on his face. He could only reach over and place his hand onto Quoi's shoulder. "Not too long ago. Right after you left the Sand Village after you saved my life." His face softened a little with a hint of sadness on it. "Quoi's parents were murdered by Sasori so he technically didn't have anyone to take care of him. He was too young to be on his own so I took him in." He told his friend, whose face fell a little with his own sadness. Even both Kiba and Rock Lee frowned softly as they looked at Quoi, whose own face fell a little and he lowered his eyes.

"Now, if the damn kid would stop getting into so much trouble." Kankuro suddenly spoke up giving him a dry look, his arms folded over his chest. Quoi shot him a returned look, which caught the Leaf Ninja's attention.

Gaara, however, nodded in agreement with his brother though. He met Naruto's eyes again when the blonde looked at him. "Unfortunately, Kankuro has a point. My young apprentice does get himself into too much trouble by pulling pranks and not paying attention to his ninja studies." he stated, giving Quoi a look, who grimaced.

"Hmph." Kiba snorted as he smirked and looked at Naruto. "Sounds like someone we know." He remarked. Naruto shot him a look as if telling him to shut up.

However, Gaara nodded as he looked at his best friend. He was glad that Kiba actually said that. It only meant he could get down to the point faster than he had expected. "Exactly." He recieved a surprised look from the blonde but he only shook his head. "Naruto, you are the reason I brought Quoi with me. He's exactly like how you used to be, always getting into trouble and always goofing off. I thought it'd be best to have him come meet you. If you know what I'm trying to get at."

Naruto blinked a few times as he listened to his friend, before he tried scratching his head, looking somewhat clueless. It only made Kiba and Kankuro pull a face and look at Gaara as if he was crazy for even thinking that the blonde could even help. But then Naruto clicked his fingers as if he caught on so suddenly. "Oh! Yeah! I get it now!" He said excitedly before he reached over and punched Quoi over the head, who yelped painfully. "Stop goofing around, kid! If Gaara really is teaching you, then stop wasting his time by goofing around and not taking his lessons seriously!"

"Ow." Quoi said with tears of pain in his eyes while Gaara rolled his eyes and folded his arms. That wasn't exactly what he had in mind for Naruto to do. He would have said something to his blonde friend about the abuse Quoi had been through already in his life, but someone beat him to it.

"NARUTO!" came that outraged voice that made Naruto jump and sweat drop fearfully and Gaara's attention snap to attention.

Both of them, along with everyone else turned around to see Sakura now stomping towards them, looking extremely pissed off. Her eyes were flaring up with anger in them and her fists were tightly balled up. She had been hurrying towards then after hearing that Gaara had came back. She had been so excited to see him that she almost missed the part where Naruto slammed his fist into the young boy's head, the one standing next to her boyfriend. But after seeing him hit the kid, her temper snapped so she turned her attention onto her energetic friend instead.

"Naruto, you did not just hit that kid, did you?!" Sakura snapped as she stomped towards them, looking ready to pound on the blonde.

Naruto stepped back, looking terrified of the pink haired Kunoichi. He tried to raise his hands in his own defense and wave them at her as if trying to reassure her that he didn't do anything wrong. "Sa-Sakura! I sw-swear...! I didn't hurt him! I di-didn't do it too hard!" He stammered over his own words.

Sakura walked right up to them, her fists onto her waist. She gave Naruto a very suspicious look before turning her eyes onto Quoi, who flinched at how hard she was looking right now. She was pretty scary when she was angry, even Gaara had to admit it, though he did it silently and with a smirk on his face. "Did he hurt you?" Sakura asked Quoi, who swallowed hard and slowly nodded. He knew it was better than lying to this scary girl. He definitely did not want her to be pissed off at him. "NARUTO!" Sakura yelled before punching the blonde, who went flying down the road.

Both Kiba and Kankuro began roaring with laughter while Quoi stepped back with shock and fear. Gaara could only smirk and shake his head as he watched Sakura punch his best friend and sent him flying away from them. This was Sakura after all. 'She is so perfect.' He thought with amusement.

'You got that right!' answered Shukaku within his head, obviously grinning. 'She's definitely the perfect mate for us!'

Gaara felt his face heat up at the word mate. He really wish that Shukaku wouldn't call Sakura that. Yes, he wanted to always be with her. He might have even wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. But to think of the word, Mate? That brought a few suggestive thoughts to his mind, and he knew very well that it was Shukaku who put them there. 'Shukaku, don't you even think about it.' The young Kazekage warned his inner demon threateningly. His only answer was the demon laughing at him.

"Gaara!" Sakura suddenly spoke up brightly, breaking him out of his silent threats to the demon. She had turned to him after a moment of beating on Naruto and leaving Quoi even more terrified of her. She just smiled brightly when Gaara looked at her. She then threw herself towards him and hugged him tightly, which he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. They held each other for a very long moment before pulling away and looking into each other's eyes. "Welcome home, Gaara. I've missed you so much." Sakura said softly as she pressed her forehead against his.

The young red head just smiled at her as he looked into her emerald stare, hands resting on either side of her face. He felt complete again just to have her in his arms. "I missed you too." he told her softly before pulling her into a kiss. Everyone watching just smiled, even Naruto after he stood up, rubbing the huge lump on his head. They were just glad that Sakura was smiling again. She hadn't done it for a while since she came back from the Land of Wind.

Once everyone settled down, Gaara, Kankuro and Quoi went with Sakura and Naruto to go see Tsunade, just to let her know that he was there. Of course, when they first arrived to the office, the two Sand Ninja and the apprentice realized that the guards hadn't been exaggerating when they said that Tsunade was in one of her moods. As soon as Sakura knocked on the door for them, it swung open, revealing a very pissed off looking Fifth Hokage. She had almost started yelling at whoever was on the other side of her door but when she saw Gaara, she stopped aburtly, surprised to see him.

But after a moment of talking with her and telling her why they were there, Gaara suddenly got a feeling that Tsunade was more than happy to see him. Her eyes had grown very bright when she saw him and she had this strange smile on her face as if she was thinking of something. She just had that sly look about her that told him that she was up to something.

"Gaara," Tsunade began, pausing to glance at everyone in the room. "I need to speak to you alone. It's important that I do." She told him.

Everyone blinked in surprise, while Gaara frowned curiously. He hadn't been in the room for more than ten minutes with everyone and she was already dismissing everyone but him. He saw Kankuro and Quoi both hesitate, looking at him with a frown. But after a moment, the young Kazekage slowly nodded as he turned his eyes onto the others. "Leave us, Kankuro, Quoi." He then glanced at Naruto, who was really being hesitant. He knew very well that his best friend wanted to stay and hear Tsunade out. But he knew very well that it was just him that she wanted to talk to. "Naruto, please. Let us talk alone." Gaara requested.

There was another pause before everyone nodded and left the room. Even though Quoi hesitated before leaving but Kankuro grabbed a hold of his shoulder and pulled him out, closing the door after him. There was another long pause before Gaara turned his eyes onto Tsunade. Tsunade took a deep breath and sat up taller. "You couldn't have come at a better time, Gaara. This helps me a lot with a serious problem I'm about to face." She told him.

"What is it?" Gaara asked seriously now frowning. He didn't like the tone of her voice. But then his head snapped up when he felt an unfamiliar presence. He jerked his head around, with sand already started to shoot out of his gourd but he stopped when Tsunade held up a hand suddenly.

There was a man who just appeared in the room, seeming to just come up right out of the ground. He was an unusual fellow. He was wearing the outfit of an ANBU, which Gaara had seen before due to some memories of Ibiki Morino. So this was an ANBU. He had a tiger like mask on his face, hiding his identity from him. He wore a katana on his back. There was also a curious aura surrounding him, as if he was curious of who Gaara was and what he was doing there.

Tsunade, on the other hand, just looked at him, motioning him a little closer. She waited for a moment as the two other occupants of the room relaxed from being around each other before she lift her head. "We're in a serious bind, Gaara. Tomorrow, Team Seven is going on the mission to retrieve Sasuke," She faintly smiled when Gaara looked surprised and more alert of her words. "We've been waiting for you as long as we could. I know you want to go on this mission. You've been wanting to help get Sasuke back since he even left. So you arrived right on time." Her smile was gone and she was serious again. "However, Kakashi is still in the hospital, recovering from his injuries he recieved from fighting the Akatsuki. So there is no leader for this mission. Until now." She glanced back at the ANBU standing a little ways from Gaara. "As for him, he's going to be leading Team Seven now. Yamato, remove your mask and meet the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village." She told him.

The ANBU nodded and turned towards Gaara, while removing the mask from his face. It suddenly occured to the young Kazekage of how creepy this man's eyes were once he met them. They were a little big. Now, this Yamato wasn't a hideous looking man. In his own sense, he was a little hansome, actually. He had dark brown hair and large dark eyes. But it was those eyes that had Gaara just a little uneasy. There was something about them. "Well, the Kazekage, himself. I've heard a lot about you from my superior, Ibiki Morino." The man, Yamato spoke with a faint smile on his face. "He speaks very highly of you. I wasn't every expecting to meet you though." He told him.

Gaara merely nodded back in greeting before turning his eyes back onto Tsunade, serious as ever. "How serious is the situation, Tsunade-sama?" he asked quietly.

Tsunade shook her head as her eyes narrowed slightly. She folded her hands together and rest her chin on top of them, still looking too serious. "Very, Gaara. It's serious enough that I have to add Yamato as captain of Team Seven. You remember the elder, Danzo, don't you?" She nodded when Gaara's eyes darkened. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, he's demanded of me to add one of his people to Team Seven for this mission. I don't like it. It's a little too suspicious that Danzo is doing this."

Gaara frowned as he lowered his eyes. "So you believe he's up to something." He said though making it sound more like a question.

"No." Tsunade answered, gruffly. "I know he's up to something. Danze usually minds his own business. I know for a fact that he was not happy at all when Sasuke left the village. But then again who wasn't? The fact is, Danzo does not like the Uchiha Clan. He wanted to force Sasuke back to the village, due to he had wanted him to become a member of his ANBU department, the Root Department. Just as he wanted you to be." She nodded when Gaara frowned sternly. "I know from my former teacher, the Third Hokage that Danzo is only interested in power. He has never liked me becoming the Fifth Hokage. In fact, when Saturobi-senpai died, he tried to immediately become the Hokage. But the other two Elders, whom you have met too, wanted Jiraiya to become Hokage. But you know Jiraiya. He refused because he doesn't want to be stuck in the office, which brings my surprise that you're here. So the title was passed to me instead. But you already know that. The point is, Danzo didn't want you to become the Kazekage because he was going to request that you become an ANBU from the Root Department. To him, you are a weapon. He wanted to use you as a tool of war." She shook her head when Gaara's face only darkened to hear that. "I know. Not happy news."

"So what does he want his man to do?" Gaara asked, darkly, still very sour to hear what Tsunade said.

Tsunade shook her head as she lowered her hands again onto the desk but then motioned to Yamato. "That's what I'm trying to find out. Yamata, here, is to keep an eye on the Root ANBU, as well as lead Team Seven to the bridge where Sasori's spy was suppose to meet Sasori. Unfortunately, Danzo does know about Yamato. So if he's up to something, Danzo's ANBU will know about him. But," She smirked as she dipped her head lower. "If you join this mission, he won't know about you. Danzo doesn't even know that you're here and by the time he hears about you being back and going on the mission, it'll be too late to warn his ANBU about you." Her face grew stern once again. "I can't order you to do anything because you are the Kazekage, Gaara. But I am requesting that you join Team Seven for this mission. I need you to look after Naruto and Sakura, as well as help Yamato keep an eye on the Root ANBU. Due to the Shukaku inside of you, you can't sleep. But Yamato must have his rest like everyone else. So if the ANBU sneaks off in the middle of the night, you can be able to keep an eye on him. Just to make sure. Will you please help us?"

There wasn't even a pause as Gaara nodded sternly. He knew he had to go on this mission. There was no way he couldn't go. And he wouldn't let Naruto and Sakura go without him. He had made his promise to Sakura as well. So he would go with them. "I will, Tsunade-sama. The only request I have in return is my apprentice, Chiquoi. I can't take him with us on this mission. He's not even a ninja yet. But knowing him, he'll throw a fit. Would it be possible if you had someone keep an eye on him? Kankuro will be in charge of him while I'm gone, but they tend to bicker and fight as bad as Sakura does with Ino." He informed the Fifth Hokage.

"I see. I'll probably have Iruka keep an eye on him then." Tsunade told him. "He can take care of him while he's here. He'll be safe in the Leaf Village. And if you'd like, he can attend some of the classes at the Ninja Academy. He'll be more than welcomed."

Gaara merely nodded, already knowing that Quoi wouldn't like that. But he knew he couldn't take his apprentice with him. It was too dangerous and he needed to go on this mission. He promised Naruto and Sakura. So he gratefully accepted Tsunade's offer, all the while glancing at Yamato, who met his eyes. He didn't know what it was about the ANBU but there was something about him. Gaara could sense a certain strength about this guy. But being as he was, he wasn't going to even ask. All he could do was prepare his brother and his apprentice for what was about to happen. But his thoughts were also on the ANBU Tsunade was warning him about. Who was this Root ANBU and what in the hell was Danzo up to?


	3. Chapter Two

As Gaara had thought, Quoi threw a little fit when he found out about the mission that he was going to go on with Team Seven.

After the meeting with Tsunade, both Gaara and Yamato parted ways, the ANBU requested that the young Kazekage would go to find Naruto and Sakura and tell them that they needed to meet in the morning near the Konoha Gates. The young Kazekage only nodded and said that he would before he went off to search for them. He didn't have to look too long because they weren't far at all. They were only just outside the building, looking up at the Hokage mountains. Quoi was actually looking down at the park, watching children play together and had a very lonely, sad look on his face. It was a fact to all of the Sand Village that he didn't have any friends, other than Gaara and his siblings. All of the children had been too intimidated by the fact that he was Gaara's apprentice. Plus, they all thought he was a troublemaking loser.

Naruto and Sakura were actually listening to Kankuro talk about what was going on in the Sand Village. They were smiling as the Puppet Master told them about Gaara's accomplishments and what he had been doing for the village. They looked very proud of their friend. But then Kankuro told them a little more about Quoi and what happened to him through his life. At least from what he knew. He explained to them about how Gaara met the boy and what he had tried to do for him. He also told them that it was Quoi who spoke to Gaara last before he had been captured by the Akatsuki member, Deidara. That brought a serious frown on both of the Leaf Ninja's faces. They didn't like to be reminded of how Gaara got caught in the first place. Still, hearing about the pain that Quoi had been in and all the trouble he, himself had been causing made Naruto's brow furrow deeply before he spun around on his hind quarters and looked at the boy. He caught sight of the sad look on his face and only was reminded of himself when he was a kid. Himself and Gaara.

"Hey, Quoi!" He bellowed at the boy, who turned around and grimaced at him. Quoi still really hadn't forgiven him for punching him. "Come 'ere, Quoi! I wanna ask you something!"

Giving Naruto a suspicious look, Quoi slowly walked over, but kept his guard up. He didn't want to get hit again by this blonde guy. No matter if he was his master's best friend. He kept a good distance away from Naruto and stood by Sakura instead. He was scared of her but he'd rather have her defending him instead of her beating on him. "What do you want?" He flinched when Naruto frowned at him grumpily. "Eh?"

Naruto, still a little grouchy that Quoi was talking to him like that, just folded his arms and plopped down onto his butt and folded his legs. "Why are you goofing around anyway when it comes to your ninja studies? Don't you want to be a ninja?" He asked grumpily right back at him.

Quoi gritted his teeth and glared at Naruto but nodded. "Yeah! Of course I want to be a Ninja! I want to be the best ninja in the Sand Village so I can protect Lord Gaara from those Akatsuki assholes! I don't want him to ever get hurt again! I swear that I will be the best and I will protect him!" He nearly shouted before flinching when Kankuro thumped him on the head for yelling and swearing at Naruto. He gave the Puppet Master a look for it but then sighed. "But..."

"Quoi, if you're not paying attention to your studies, how are you suppose to protect Gaara then?" Sakura asked, softly but it was no doubt she disapproved his goofing off too.

Sighing, Quoi's shoulders slouched and he lowered his head. "I don't know. I will somehow. But I...I just don't know." He murmured.

"Well, if you're going to protect Gaara, then you better stop goofing around. You better stop being late for classes and stop back talking to everyone that tries to reassure you of what you're doing wrong. And stop cracking dirty jokes." Kankuro told him, sternly. "The only person you don't back talk is Gaara. I just don't see why he's wasting his time on you if you're not going to even make an effort to becoming a ninja." He said dryly. Quoi only lowered his head, looking very sad at being scolded like this.

However, Naruto shook his head with a serious look on his face as he was giving Kankuro his own dry look. "I do. I see why Gaara's wasting time on him." He received surprised looks from Kankuro, Sakura and Quoi. But he just looked directly at the young boy standing in front of him, smiling faintly. "Gaara believes in you, Quoi. That's why he's taking his time on training you. He knows that you can do something better with your life. I was exactly like you when I was a kid. I was always getting trouble and pulling pranks just so I could get some attention. No one liked me when I was young. They always treated me like I was a monster or like I didn't belong with them. I didn't have anyone to stand by my side. Until...until I met Gaara. He was just like me. We were both lonely and we needed a friend. He always stayed by me, defending me from anyone who tried to hurt me. He took up his own time and patience to be my friend and help me. Just like how he's trying to help you. He knows you can do it. But first, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you can do things that no one believes that you can. Only then will everyone start believing in you. You can't always goof around and do it. If you want to be a ninja and protect Gaara, you have to work for it. Even if it's not always fun. And you have to do it by your ninja way."

There was a long silence between all four of them as the other three stared at Naruto with wide eyes. They couldn't believe this was the same goofball they knew. They couldn't believe he had changed so much. Making a weird face, Kankuro slowly shook his head. "Oh, my gawd. I can't believe it. Naruto actually said something intelligent and that made sense. Now I have seen everything." He remarked. Naruto shot him a look for it.

Quoi just grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck. He understood what Naruto was telling him. He realized that he had a point. He couldn't goof around if he was going to protect Gaara. Speaking of which, he spotted his sensei walking towards them with a smirk on his face. Grinning, he waved at him and started running over to him. "Hey! Lord Gaara! I promise I'll become the best Ninja ever! I'll stop messing around now!" he told him.

Gaara just nodded with a faint smile on his face. He turned his eyes onto Naruto, who grinned sheepishly. The blonde knew very well that his best friend had heard him talking to him. He didn't care either. And neither did the young Kazekage. He only looked at his young apprentice and gave him a nod. "I know you will, Quoi. And while we're staying here, I've gotten permission that you learn with some of the students in the Ninja Academy here." He told him, getting a surprised look. But then he looked seriously at Naruto and Sakura again. "Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade's just told me that we're leaving on the mission tomorrow morning I've met your new team captain that will be replacing Kakashi on the mission to retrieve Sasuke. And we will be meeting with your new teammate tomorrow before we leave." He informed them.

Everyone blinked in surprise at his words. Especially Kankuro and Quoi. They had specifically heard him say that "We" was in that sentence. "What?" Both of them asked breathlessly. The Puppet Master frowned as he tilted his head to the side giving his younger brother a confused look. "What do you mean 'we', Gaara? Are we going somewhere?" He asked, unfolding his arms.

The young Kazekage looked directly into his brother's eyes and slowly shook his head. "Naruto and Sakura will be joined with two team mates on a mission to go after Sasuke tomorrow, Kankuro. I will be going with them. You will stay here and keep an eye on Quoi. Make sure he stays out of trouble being here." He told him.

"What?! No way! Master Gaara! I'm going with you!" Quoi said with a look of disbelief on his face.

Gaara turned his eyes sharply onto his apprentice for making such a demand. He only shook his head at his young student, giving him a stern look. "No you will not. This is an A class mission, Quoi. You aren't a ninja yet and even if you were, you couldn't go with us because you would be a Genin. You will stay here with Kankuro." He then frowned sternly when Quoi opened his mouth to argue. "Quoi, I said no. I brought you here to train you here. I wasn't expecting this mission to come up so suddenly when I first got here. But I must be apart of it. Sasuke Uchiha was once my comrade and friend. He saved my life once. I must return the favor. You can't go with us because it will be dangerous. I will not be able to protect you when the time comes." He told him.

"But I..." Quoi tried to argue.

Now, Gaara was giving him a very serious look. He didn't want to argue about this with his young student. He didn't have the patience for it right now. His worry was mostly on the mission that Naruto and Sakura had to go on. That and the new teammate from Root. "Quoi, do not make me decide to have Kankuro take you back to the Sand Village. I've asked the Hokage if my former sensei, Iruka could teach you and she's granted that permission. He's a good teacher and will take care of you in my absence." He dipped his head down a little, still looking very stern. "Until I return, you will behave. I'm not going to argue with you on this. I have to go on this mission with Team Seven." He turned his eyes onto Kankuro, looking seriously at him. "Kankuro, do you understand why I have to go on this mission?"

There was a pause as Kankuro stared right into his eyes but then slowly his face grew serious and he nodded. He did understand. He knew Gaara had his own reasons for going and he knew that if they weren't serious, he wouldn't have gone on this thing with Naruto and Sakura. "Yeah, Gaara. I get it. Don't worry about the kid. I'll take care of him. He'll be safe." He told him.

Gaara only nodded but then looked down at Quoi when he looked as if he was going to keep protesting. He wasn't going to keep arguing about this subject with him. He had already explained himself, if not all the way when he hadn't needed to. So with a sigh, Quoi bobbed his head up and down into a nod. "All right, Lord Gaara. I'll do as you ask. I'm sorry for questioning you." He said with his head lowered. Gaara narrowed his eyes a little at his apprentice. He knew better though. He knew very well that Quoi was a mischievous little devil and would probably try something. But he'd have to depend on Kankuro to make sure that didn't happen. So he just nodded to Sakura and Naruto, who nodded back. They had been surprised by the news that they were leaving on the mission in the morning but pleased. They knew that the sooner they got Sasuke back, the better. And they were happier that Gaara was going with them.

Early morning came and Gaara left Kankuro and Quoi in his apartment. They were both still asleep when he left, which was right before the sun even came up. He did so quietly so that he didn't wake up Quoi, which he knew very well that would take a lot of effort. Still, he left quietly just in case. He didn't want to take the chance.

Gaara was, of course, the first one to arrive at the gates where he was meeting with Naruto, Sakura, Yamato and the new teammate. He usually was the first one to arrive. He didn't have to wait long though when Yamato showed up. The ANBU wore the usual Jounin garb, much like Kakashi's outfit. So he didn't look too much like the ANBU Gaara knew he was. They greeted each other with only a nod of their heads before leaning against the wall to wait for Sakura and Naruto, which they both arrived shortly after. Now they had to wait for the new teammate. It didn't take very long at all for him to show up.

The new teammate showed up not too long after the other two arrived, and Gaara had noticed him first. He had sensed him coming up from behind them through the passage of the wall, which he turned around abruptly to look at him. Neither Naruto or Sakura noticed him just yet. They were both complaining about how the new guy was late. But soon enough, Gaara saw him.

It surprised him, though, on how pale this new recruit was. The ninja was paler than Gaara was, and he was very pale as it was. It was like he had not seen very much sun. The ninja's skin was almost chalk white and it almost glowed upon the black material of his outfit. He wore black ninja pants that cut a little short around his ankles, showing his legs. He also wore a short sleeved jacket the cut high, right under his chest, showing off his pale skinned stomach. He also wore a short blade katana on his back, along with his travel pack and a hip pouch, which was slightly larger than others the young Kazekage had seen before. The ninja, himself, was an unusual character. He had sleep black hair falling around his pale face, which he wore a very strange smile. It looked almost forced. Gaara could tell that this ninja wasn't exactly smiling a real smile. His eyes, however, were dark but...blank. They were almost lifeless. It was like he wasn't exactly a real person. Gaara didn't really like the looks of this new teammate. He wasn't very much older than Naruto, Sakura and himself. He could have only been a year or two older. It surprised the young Kazekage that this was the new teammate, the Root ANBU.

'He's sure young, isn't he? He's kind of an odd looking dude.' Shukaku offered his observation.

Gaara merely frowned as he looked the new teammate over, taking in his appearance. He had to agree with Shukaku on this one. He was very odd. Still, he was surprised that this young man was an ANBU. He didn't look very much as he was. So what kind of ANBU was he? He figured he was about to find out.

However, when Naruto finally noticed the new teammate, he seemed to know him. Because he literately leapt several feet back away from him and pointed at the ninja in black with a look of shock on his face. And obviously, he did not see this ninja as an ally. He yanked out the kunai he kept within his sleeve and looked as if he was about to fight him. "IT'S YOU!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked at him surprised that he knew who this guy was. Gaara frowned with Sakura and Yamato but tried to ignore it.

"Heya." The ninja in black greeted them, trying to sound friendly. But Gaara could tell that it was an act, which proved to be very confusing.

Both Gaara and Sakura looked at Naruto as he looked ready to start fighting the new team member, who just looked relaxed as ever. They didn't like the looks of this at all. The ninja was too relaxed while Naruto looked pumped up to fight. "Naruto, do you know him?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side.

Naruto nodded vigorously as he pointed his kunai at the new team member, looking furious. He didn't like this guy one bit, obviously. "Yeah! This guy attacked me, Shikamaru and Choji the other day! Just up and out of nowhere! I didn't know who he was or why he even attacked us!" he nearly shouted. That put Gaara on high alert, causing him to shoot the Root ANBU a serious look. That did not sit too well on his part to hear that this young ninja attacked his best friend for no reason.

"Sorry about before." The ninja immediately stated, still sounding friendly. He just kept on that strange fake smile while looking right at Naruto, not looking worried at the least that the blonde was still pointing his kunai at him. "I wanted to see the abilities of my new teammate. So I just forced you into combat. Please, forgive me." He told Naruto, who straightened, looking very confused but angry at the same time.

"So you attacked Naruto?" Gaara asked, coolly.

The ninja looked over at him, still smiling the fake smiled but with an instant it was gone. He actually blinked, looking blankly surprised to see him. It was like he hadn't even noticed the young Kazekage at all. And in truth, he hadn't been expecting to see him there. Nor did he even know who he was. He took a moment to look him over, observing the red head before he nodded, still looking slightly confused. He tried to force the fake smile again, giving it to Gaara as if he was a friend or something. "Yes. I was only learning his fighting style and abilities. Just so I could know what to do to help him on this mission." He tried to reassure them.

Naruto frowned as he relaxed a little and slid his kunai back into his sleeve. He still looked confused and unnerved to see the guy who attacked him but at least he was relaxed. "Oh. Well, why didn't you just say so? That way we could have avoided another fight like that." He grumbled before tilting his head. "So...you were just trying to learn about how I fought?"

The ninja nodded smiling fakely at the blonde and even placed his hand onto his waist as he tilted his head to the side. "Yes. I was only observing your techniques. And I have come to a conclusion about your techniques." He paused to draw out the drama a little. "You not only have no dick, but you have no skills, Loser." He said, sounding very pleasant. Everyone froze with alarm. Even Gaara had to. He couldn't believe that this ninja would just come out and say stuff like that. More or less, to Naruto Uzumaki, who always took things like what the new teammate said seriously.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Naruto exploded and lunged at the ninja, who kept that fake smile on his face.

Before he got too close to the ninja, both Sakura and Gaara grabbed a hold of his arms and held him back. They knew that Naruto would have exploded like that the instant those words came out of the ninja's mouth. They still couldn't believe he had even said that to Naruto. They had only just met him and now they were very sure that they hated him. It annoyed Gaara a little that this guy would insult his best friend like he just did. He didn't like it at all.

"Hold on, Naruto! He's going to be our new teammate! You can't just attack him so suddenly like that!" Sakura cried out as she tried to restrain Naruto. Naruto was sure pulling hard though. Gaara eventually had to call out some sand to holding him back and hold his feet down. He kept frowning right at the ninja though, still looking very annoyed that he had insulted him like that. Sakura turned her eyes onto the ninja frowning at him. "As for you, you're being a real unfriendly jerk." She told him.

The ninja only merely laughed as if he found what she said was funny. He just kept on that ridiculous fake smile on his face while shifting his weight to the other foot. "Really? I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me that, Ugly." He told her.

Once again, everyone froze at the words that just came right out of the ninja's mouth. Even Naruto stopped moving and looked fearfully up at Sakura. He and Gaara knew very well what was about to happen next.

"WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY, YOU ASSHOLE?!" Sakura now exploded as she threw Naruto off to the side and lunged at the ninja.

However, Yamato quickly intercepted her, catching her arms and pulling her back. It was very hard for even him to keep a hold of her. So when Gaara quickly moved forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, he let him take her. He only stepped back looking very un-nerved of how strong she was. He had been holding very tight on her and yet she almost broke loose from his grip. For Gaara, however, it was a little easier for him to hold on to her. He even had to wrap sand around both of them to keep her against him. He was glaring at the new teammate though. And almost as viciously as Sakura had been wanting to rip the new guy apart. He really did not like this new teammate at all. Not when he was insulting his best friend and the girl he was in love with. He could even hear Shukaku demanding to kill the ninja for insulting...which he sweat dropped at, their mate.

Problem was, Gaara was tempted to doing it.

Sakura almost broke loose again but he kept a firm grip on her with his own arms and the sand pressing her against him. He had to force her to turn away from the new teammate and bury his face into her hair near her ear while trying to soothe her temper with soft words. Slowly, Sakura began to calm down while she clutched onto his jacket rather tightly and leaned her head against his shoulder. She was so close to him that he smelled the salt of her tears. Obviously those words hurt her just a little. His eyes darkening, Gaara turned to the ninja, giving him a very cold look. The look even made the ninja step back a little, his fake smile fading a little. "If you want to stay alive to continue on with this mission," the young Kazekage stated. "You will never call her that again. Because if you do, I will kill you myself. I won't tolerate you insulting them." He said very coldly.

The ninja didn't reply for a long moment. He was slightly un-nerved by the cold stare he was getting from this red head. "Oh...well...forgive me then." He said very carefully.

After a very long moment of trying to get Naruto and Sakura to calm down, Yamato sighed wearily as he watched Gaara keeping a firm hold on them with his sand. He was actually surprised to find himself already a little tired from this little excitement. He just shook his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked the four ninja over. "Okay. Let's try this again." He began, motioning to Naruto, Sakura and the ninja in black. "The four of us make up the new Team Seven and we will be going on this mission together. But..." he reached up and rubbed his head, looking dissatisfied with the progress so far. Especially when Naruto and Sakura were glaring viciously at the new team member. "Jeez, look at you guys. I don't have the time to toss you in a cage and let you guys get to know each other. So let's try and play nice, all right? Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other. My name is Yamato. I'll be taking Kakashi Hatake's place as team captain for now on. Now, why don't you introduce yourselves. Starting with you." He said motioning to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said dryly as he continued to glare right at the ninja in black.

Then it was Sakura's turn. She too was glaring dryly at the young ninja on the other side of Gaara, whom was trying to keep her away from him. "Sakura Haruno." She said coldly.

"Hi! My name is Sai!" came the ninja in black's introduction. He was looking back at Gaara, though. "So, who's the Spook?"

"ARGH! Don't you insult Gaara either, you jerk!" Both Naruto and Sakura yelled, losing their tempers again as they tried to lunge at the new guy.

But once again, sand wrapped around them and kept them back. Gaara narrowed his eyes dangerously on the ninja in black but didn't say anything. He didn't care if this guy called him by a name like that but as long as he didn't do it to his two friends. He just gave Sai a very cool look of warning while Yamato sighed and shook his head. "My name is Gaara." He said even more coldly than Sakura had said hers.

"I'd be careful of who you insult, Sai, was it?" Yamato interrupted. "You might find that you're going to regret it later on."

Naruto nodded as he glared fiercely at the ninja on the other side of Gaara. He even pointed at his best friend. "Yeah! Yeah! He's the Kaz...!" He was yelling.

But Gaara had a hand over his mouth to keep him from yelling it out. He didn't care if Sai knew who he was but with Naruto yelling it into his ear, he didn't want him to tell the new teammate. "You'll find that I'm not a very forgiving person when it comes to insulting my friends and comrades. I don't care what you call me, but be careful of what you call Sakura and Naruto. You might not like me later on." He warned him. Sakura seemed to have caught on though.

"Well, at least we have the introductions out of the way." Yamato tried again to calm everyone down. "Now, time to explain the mission that we, Team Kakashi will be taking. The five of us will be heading out for a bridge called the Tenchikyou, where we will be meeting a spy for the Akatsuki who infiltrated Orochimaru's Organization. We will capture him and bring him back to the village for questioning. If we're lucky, we'll get information on Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha." He didn't pay too much attention when Naruto and Sakura's faces grew very grim at the sound of Sasuke's name. But he did pay attention when Sai blinked and looked over at Gaara. "If we succeed with this mission, it will allow us to gain valuable access to important information that will allow us to assassinate Orochimaru and Sasuke's retrieval. So keep our minds on our goal." he told them firmly.

Sai then held up a hand for a second to get their attention but his eyes were still on Gaara. He was still smiling that fake smile but there was a hint of confusion over him. "You said the five f us. If my calculations are correct, there are only suppose to be four team mates on Team Seven. Am I wrong to think this?" He asked, his head tilted to the side.

"No. You are correct. There are suppose to be four teammates of Team Seven." Yamato said, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. He merely folded his arms and let his eyes flicker over to Gaara. "The Lord Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village wishes to accompany us to retrieving Sasuke Uchiha. He used to be apart of Team Seven before he became the Fifth Kazekage of Suna Village." He smiled faintly when Sai looked slightly surprised and turned his strangely blank eyes onto Gaara. "That's right, Sai. This is Lord Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village. He's here to help us with this mission. With me, he is in charge. In a way, he's the head hauncho of this little mission." He informed not only Sai but Naruto and Sakura, who looked very surprised to hear that.

"Whoa! Gaara! You're in charge?!" Naruto asked, brightly now looking very excited with Sakura.

Merely shrugging, Gaara looked at his best friend and girlfriend with a soft look. "Not entirely. I'm only here to assist Team Kakashi. But otherwise, we are only teammates." he then looked back at Sai, who was frowning slightly as he listened to the whole ordeal. "Now then, should we be on our way?"

Yamato nodded as he decided to interrupt again. He knew that it was better that if he did. He didn't want another fight breaking out again. "Yes, Lord Kazekage. You have a point. We should..." He was saying.

Gaara shook his head as he looked directly at the ANBU and frowned. "And enough with the formalities. It's just Gaara on this mission. Don't think of me as the Kazekage. On this mission, I am your teammate and your equal. We are a team and we will treat each other like one. So, just call me Gaara on this mission." he told everyone. Both Naruto and Sakura smiled.

All the while Yamato just faintly smiled as he bobbed his head into a nod. "Very well...Gaara." He glanced over at the other three. "Well then...Team Kakashi will move out now." He told them before taking the lead of heading out of the Gates of the Leaf Village. He merely glanced over his shoulder at the four following him, faintly smiling. He knew that this was going to be very interesting from there on out. If only knew how interesting.


	4. Chapter Three

The group of five walked in silence for a very long time, no one talking to one another as they traveled down the main road. Gaara caught sight of Naruto glancing over at Sai with a bitter look on his face but he really didn't pay much attention to him. He just kept his eyes on the road before him. He was thinking pretty hard about the mission that laid out before them. He knew very well that they were going to the Tenchikyou Bridge just to meet with Sasori's spy, and maybe even find Sasuke. But what about Orochimaru? Why exactly did Tsunade want him to go with Team Kakashi? He knew very well that there was something else that she wanted him for.

The question in his mind eventually was asked by Sai as they walked. The ninja in black had been very curious to know what the Kazekage's business was to go on this mission that was meant for the Leaf Ninja. He had been watching Gaara, not even seeming to be aware that Naruto was looking at him. "Do you mind if I ask why you are coming, Kazekage-san?" He spoke up.

Everyone eventually looked at the pale ninja with frowns on their faces. Gaara, however, gave him a very lazy look, as if asking what business it was of his. He didn't even want to answer to Danzo's little spy. But then Yamato decided to answer for him. "The Young Kazekage is here for a very good reason, Sai." He didn't even bother to turn around to look at the other four behind him. He just kept on walking down the path with them following him. "Gaara-san happens to be a very powerful ninja. He has complete control over the sand he carries in that large gourd and he can do some massive damage with it, if he wishes. He also has a connection with Sasuke Uchiha. As I said before, he was once apart of Team Kakashi before he left the Leaf Village for his birth Village, the Hidden Village in the Sand. He became Kazekage and fought off the Akatsuki who were ruling his village with a tight fist." He explained.

"..." Sai hummed as he took the information. "I mean no disrespect for the Kazekage, but why do we need him? Even if he was apart of Team Kakashi before, what business does he have on this mission?"

Naruto growled angrily at him while Sakura just gave Sai a look of dislike. Gaara didn't care either way. He felt like he didn't need to explain himself to this ninja brat. Yamato finally turned his head to look at Sai directly but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "The Lady Hokage wants the Lord Kazekage on this team because he happens to have the One Tailed Beast, Shukaku sealed in his body, Sai." That only made Naruto and Sakura give him a look as if he was crazy to be telling the ninja in black that. The pale ninja merely frowned while glancing over at Gaara, who was keeping a pretty straight face. "Shukaku is a Tanuki. And it's a known fact that Tanuki eats snakes." Yamato went on explaining.

'Oh, yes we do.' Shukaku chuckled almost evilly within Gaara's head. 'They are so delicious.'

"So?" Naruto asked now a little interested. "What does Shukaku have to do with Orochimaru?"

Sakura's eyes lit up as the answer just popped up right within her own head. She realized exactly where Yamato was going with this. Her face just brightened as she looked right at Gaara before she grinned. "Oh! That's why Tsunade-shishou really wants Gaara on the team! Tanuki eats snakes and Orochimaru is a snake! So that means he's afraid of Tanuki, isn't he?" She asked brightly.

Now, Naruto's face brightened to hear that. He looked as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You mean...?!" He started to laugh.

Yamato chuckled while Gaara smirked. It finally caught on to the red head too. Now that he thought about it, during the Chuunin Exams he distinctively remembered how afraid Orochimaru looked when he saw him. He remembered how he had drawn back away from him and tried to keep his distance. He also remembered how Shukaku's blood lust was demanding him to kill the snake like man. Yamato just nodded. "If I remember right, Orochimaru had tried to have Gaara killed not too long after he met him. He tried very well to keep away from him. It's all because of the Tanuki spirit living within Gaara. So, because Orochimaru is somewhat like a snake, he's terrified of Gaara. That's why he's here. Just in case Orochimaru shows up, Gaara can keep him distracted while we capture Sasori's spy." He told them.

Naruto started laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke and even Sakura spared a few giggles herself as she looked fondly at Gaara. "Ha, ha, ha! I can't believe that old snake bastard is afraid of Gaara! I mean, I know Gaara can be a little scary when he wants to be! But the all powerful Sanin is afraid of a Tanuki?! Come on! I've taken on Shukaku before! He's not that hard!"

Gaara raised a thin eyebrow at him though there was a smirk on his face. He could hear Shukaku growling within his head, almost demanding him let the sand demon spirit out to show Naruto who should be afraid. "Careful, Naruto." He spoke with dark amusement. "You're provoking Shukaku." He warned him.

Naruto stopped laughing and was now looking at his best friend nervously.

Sai didn't say anything else after that but kept walking with the rest of the team. They didn't speak for a long time until they broke out of the trees and finally came to a small field. Naruto had stopped laughing about Orochimaru and went back to staring at Sai with a bitter look. Eventually, the ninja in black finally noticed, glancing at him with a frown. "Is there a problem?" He asked quietly.

That got everyone's attention again.

Naruto continued to glower at Sai as he studied his face before he shook his head. "I guess you could say they look somewhat similar in a way...and their voices are kind a bit alike." He remarked.

That even made Gaara frown in confusion as he listened to his best friend. He didn't have a clue what Naruto was talking about. But seeing Sakura's face light up a little, he figured that she must have known what the blonde was talking about. Sai just frowned and tilted his head away from Naruto. "Would you please stop staring at me like that? I won't hesitate to smacking you." He remarked in a somewhat dry tone. Now, Gaara was glaring at him, as if daring him to try it.

Naruto, of course, glared at him and faced him as if he was going to fight him. "Why don't you try not pissing people off with every damn thing you say! Asshole!" He yelled at him, waving a fist at him.

Sai didn't look phased by his threat at all. He just kept walking while looking dully at Sai. "What are you talking about? I'm not pissing off anyone." He told him, though he wasn't aware that he was pissing Naruto even more. Especially when the blonde called him a liar right then and there. On with the fake smile, Sai just shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's just that, I'm trying to position myself as being this kind of character." He remarked.

Gaara stopped glaring at him and frowned in confusion. He didn't understand what he had just meant.

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Naruto yelled, not even seeming to realize what Sai just said. "You are such an asshole!"

Now Yamato's attention was on them. He stopped walking and turned around to frown at them. He looked very irritated that Naruto was trying to pick a fight with Sai again. "Hey! Enough! That's hardly something to just go and say in front of your squad leader, Naruto." He warned him. "Trust and teamwork are the absolute most important things to a team. Surely Kakashi-san taught you that. It's hard to believe that you was actually on the same team as the Great Kakashi Hatake. What is the deal with you?" He asked calmly.

Naruto glared at Yamato next but pointed right at Sai. "The problem is that HE is not a part of Team Kakashi! The only members on Team Kakashi is Me, Sakura, Gaara, Kakashi and the last member is Sasuke! We don't need a guy like him!" He bellowed in anger. "He's just here to take up space while Sasuke is gone! I refuse to accept someone like him as a team member!"

"Naruto." Gaara said calmly. He knew very well he needed to shut Naruto up. In a way, he was insulting Yamato just like he was Sai. And Yamato wasn't too bad.

However, Sai just smiled his fake smile and placed his hand onto his waist. He didn't even look bothered by Naruto's words at all. He seemed to accept them pleasantly. "Actually...I'd prefer it if things stayed that way." He spoke softly still smiling. "Sasuke Uchiha betrayed Konoha, and despite being the weakling he is, he ran off to serve Orochimaru just to gain power. He's worthless trash, just like Orochimaru. So I hardly want to be associated with him. He deserves to die."

That not only angered Naruto but Gaara too. He couldn't believe that Sai would say stuff like that about Sasuke. It was true that Sasuke betrayed the village but in a way, Sai had no right to say that about him. He did not know Sasuke. Not like he did and Naruto and Sakura.

Speaking of which...

Naruto was about to rush forward to attack Sai but Sakura thrust out a hand in front of him, stopping him right in his tracks. She didn't look severely pissed off like Naruto was but she didn't look happy either. She was actually taking it very calmly. More than Gaara realized she would. But he knew very well that there was something hidden within her. He could see a little flame of fury within her eyes. So he kept his arms folded over his chest and watched the little spat calmly. "The Captain is right. Teamwork is what's important." She lowered her hand when Naruto gave her a confused look. "As for Naruto...Sai, since he doesn't know you at all, he probably did say a bit much. So I apologize for him."

"Sakura..." Naruto muttered with confusion.

Yamato just sighed and lowered his head with a little relief. He was just glad that a fight wasn't about to break out. Yet, anyway. "I'm glad at least one of you is somewhat tolerable." He muttered.

Sai just nodded with his fake smile on his face. "That's all right. I'm not really offended at all." He told Sakura in a very calm way.

Sakura just smiled right back, even though Gaara knew it was her own fake smile. He had a feeling that she was a lot more angry than she was letting everyone on about. He had a feeling he knew very well what was about to happen and it made the Kazekage's lips curve upward a little. "Really? Good." Sakura said pleasantly. And then she struck.

WHAM!

Sakura's fist slammed into the side of Sai's face, which sent the ninja in black flying away from them. He went crashing and rolling across the field until he came to a stop nearly fifteen feet away from them. Gaara could only smirk while Naruto was bewildered and Yamato was stunned by how hard she had just hit Danzo's little spy. 'She's so beautiful when she's angry.' Gaara couldn't help think as he admired his pink haired girlfriend, who was giving Sai a savage look.

'Geez! I think I'm now falling in love with her!' Shukaku said as he roared with laughter within Gaara's head. 'She is perfect for us!'

Gaara ignored him though. "As for me..." Sakura spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "I don't want your forgiveness."

There was a long silence as Sai just laid there on the ground, covered in dirt. He didn't move for a moment and it made Gaara wonder if Sakura had knocked him out. But after a moment, the ninja in black pushed himself up until he stood in a crouch. There was a trickle of blood now running down his chin from where Sakura punched him. He ignored it for a second before he decided to wipe the blood off his chin. He looked directly at Sakura, not smiling but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "You sure tricked me...with that fake smile of yours." He spoke calmly, which just made Naruto frown in confusion.

Sakura stood up straighter still giving him a very dry look. She glanced side wards at Gaara as he moved a step closer, probably to calm her down before she did some massive damage to the ANBU spy. "You don't know a damned thing about Sasuke! So don't you dare go trying to act like you do." The pink haired Kunoichi remarked savagely. "The next time you say something bad about him, I won't hold back and Gaara won't stop me."

Sai chuckled and for a strange reason, it made Gaara's skin crawl. He didn't like the way he was laughing. He just watched as the ninja in black climbed to his feet. "Fine. I won't say anything in front of you then." he stood up and began dusting off himself off. "Still...to think a fake smile can be used in the way you just used it. I'll have to remember that." He said while smiling again.

"You just got yourself hit. So what's with the grin, you moron?!" Naruto demanded, his arms folded over his chest and giving Sai a very dry look.

Sai blinked lazily before looking right at him. There was something about that look on his face. It was something that had Gaara bothered about the new teammate. He didn't like it at all. Still, Sai didn't look angry about getting punched. No, he actually looked like he was taking it well. He didn't even look like he was in pain at all. "A smile is the best way to get oneself out of a tight spot. Even if it is a fake one. Surprisingly enough, everyone has their own way of smiling. Just like the one that Ug..." He stopped himself from calling Sakura Ugly again when Gaara growled loud enough for him to hear it. "That she wore just now. I read that in a book once. Although it doesn't seem to have much of an effect in my case."

Suddenly there was the sound of creaking wood and a rumble as if there was a landslide somewhere. It only took a few seconds for all four young ninja to realize that a huge wooden cage had just burst out of the ground all around them, trapping them inside. Gaara stiffened and looked around with the others but then his teal eyes fell onto Yamato who was standing outside the cage, looking very moody. Glaring at the ANBU, he felt like this was a threat of some sort. "Yamato-taichou," He growled. "What is the meaning of this?"

"All of you..." Yamato spoke dryly but then turned around to look at all of them. "Forgive me, Kazekage-sama. It was not my intentions for you to be in there with those three. Not at all. I would let you out, knowing that it would cause problems between our villages, but I really believe that we need to vent a few things out between us. But Naruto, Sakura, Sai, you three have caused enough trouble already. I told you we didn't have time for me to throw you into a cage so that you can get to know each other but you really haven't given me a choice. We have at least five more days before we need to reach the Tenchikyou Bridge." He paused, giving Naruto, Sakura and Sai a stern look. "I will let Gaara-sama out, but you three need to stay in there. As your mediator, I'm going to give the three of you two options to choose from. In order to get better acquainted with one another you can either choose to spend a whole day in this cage here, or we can stay the night at an inn somewhere that has an onsen. It's your choice." He told them.

There was a long pause as all four stared at the unusual ANBU. Gaara had to admit it but he was surprised by this man. He had not guessed that he had a power like this. To control wood like he controlled sand? That was most unusual. He could only wonder how he had managed to gain a power like this. He knew very well that this was technique was one that had not been used for many years. Not since the First Hokage.

"Now, the three of you probably don't know me very well either, while I do prefer to interact with people in a gentle manner, I'm also not at all opposed to establishing my dominance in a reign of terror." Yamato continued, his eyes now very creepy. They had gotten a little wide and had a look of evil about them, even though Gaara didn't sense evil within him. Still, it creeped him out just like it did Naruto and Sakura. Both stepped back, looking alarmed and uneasy. "Now, what do you say? The cage or an onsen?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Ti-Time out! Don't need to get so creepy!" Naruto yelped now waving his hands in front of him. "We can be good now! Just stop looking at us like that!"

Gaara sighed before lifting his head higher. He knew what Yamato was trying to do and he couldn't help but agree with him. They really didn't have time to be fighting each other like this. Not if they were going to complete this mission. So with a swift nod, he folded his arms as he walked towards the wooden bars of the cage. "Very well, Yamato. We'll go to an onsen. I'm sensing that you know where one is." He was very aware that Naruto and Sakura looked at him with surprise but he didn't return the look. He just kept his eyes on Yamato, who nodded as he rose a hand and made a sign. The wooden cage slowly creaked as it sunk back into the ground. "We will go to this onsen where we can get a better acquainted with our new teammate."

"Gaara!" Naruto protested.

The young red head turned around and looked at his best friend, knowing that he didn't want to get to know the ninja in black but he really didn't blame Yamato for reacting like he did. "Naruto, like it or not, we're stuck with Sai until this mission is over. This is exactly how it was when we first met Kakashi. You and I did not like Sasuke and we didn't want to work as a team." He spoke quietly. "But sooner or later, we have to accept this. If we want to complete this mission, we must do things that we do not want to do. You know that as well as I do. So we will do as Yamato-taichou asks." he told him.

There was a pause as Naruto and Sakura made faces. They really didn't want to do this but they knew that if Gaara was agreeing with Yamato into getting to know Sai, he knew what he was saying. So with grumpy looks on their faces, they sighed and nodded. "All right. We'll go to the Onsen." Sakura said, though she was giving Sai a bitter look just like Naruto was.

"Very well. The Onsen I know about is only an hour away from here." Yamato explained, his arms folded over his chest. "We'll stop there for the night and enjoy the hot springs there. I think we need to relax anyway."

Gaara nodded as he looked directly at the wood manipulator with his own arms folded over his chest. "Then lead the way, Yamato-taichou." he told him.

However, as all five of them turned and started walking, the young Kazekage halted in mid step, his eyes flashing with alert. He had the sudden feeling that someone was watching them. He could feel the eyes on him and could even feel a trickle of Chakra nearby. Frowning, he stopped and turned to look around the field to see if he could spot the source of Chakra. He frowned even more when he just saw a group of farmers plowing the field. They could have been the source, of course. But there was something familiar about the Chakra. His eyes narrowing a little, Gaara continued to look around to see if he could see any familiar faces.

"Gaara, you coming?" Naruto called to him when he realized the red head wasn't with them.

Still frowning, Gaara turned slowly and walked after the other four. He knew that Chakra from somewhere, maybe even recently. But still, he hadn't seen anyone he knew. And even the Chakra was gone now. If someone really was following them they sure masked their Chakra quickly. Gaara just frowned as he looked over his shoulder while walking between Naruto and Sakura. He would have to keep his eyes out for anything suspicious. Or anyone. In the mean time, he would pretend that nothing happened.

It was late afternoon by the time Team Kakashi reached the Onsen and mostly Naruto and Sakura were exhausted. They had to cover a little rough terrain just to get there. But like Yamato said, it was only an hour away from where Sakura had punched Sai, which he was still a little dirty from crashing and rolling across the field. Gaara was still on high guard, glancing back now and then to see if someone was following them. He knew someone was. He just didn't know who. It made him rather suspicious and when he asked Shukaku about it, the demon just chuckled darkly. So obviously the demon knew who was following them but he didn't want to share the information.

'Don't worry, brat. You'll figure it out soon enough.' Shukaku chuckled which only annoyed Gaara a little more than he already was.

The people running the Onsen were very happy to receive the Leaf Ninja though, as well as the Lord Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village. They started treating him like he was royalty, which only added onto his annoyance. He didn't like special treatments and eventually told the people to treat his teammates the same way. They were only too happy to.

Eventually, the five team members were giving rooms, which Gaara and Sakura possessed their own rooms while Naruto, Sai and Yamato shared one. It wasn't really like Gaara was going to use the room though. It wasn't the full moon so he couldn't sleep. Not without giving Shukaku control. Even though the Sand demon and he were on better terms, he still didn't trust him enough to give him control while he slept. Either way, it would give him some time to think in silence. He didn't want to hear Naruto snoring while he sat awake. No matter how much Naruto wanted to deny it, he snored and he talked loudly in his sleep. It was funny to Gaara either way, but he felt like he needed peace and quiet so he could get his thoughts in order.

However, one thing that Gaara had definitely not planned was to go sit in one of the Hot Springs. He had just been planning to wash up in the bathroom and then sit down to meditate for the evening. But somehow, Naruto talked to him into going with him, Yamato and Sai. He had not even wanted to go to the Hot Springs knowing that on the other side of the large wall that separated the men's Hot Springs from the women's, Sakura was going to be there.

It was the thought of Sakura sitting in a hot spring, wearing nothing but a towel that made Gaara very uneasy.

Still, Gaara had found himself black mailed by Naruto to go with him to sit in the Hot Springs with Sai and Yamato. The blonde really did not want to be left alone with those two and even told Gaara that. Of course, the young Kazekage had refused and told him that he was going to pass. But the blonde had his own way of getting Gaara to join him.

"I swear, Gaara, if you leave me alone with Sai and Yamato-taichou, I will peek on Sakura while she's bathing in the Hot Springs!" Naruto had said.

The young Kazekage swore that if Naruto had not been his best friend and they had grown up with one another, going through a lot of hell just to get to where they were now, he would have crushed him right then and there with his Sand Burial technique. He would have just killed Naruto in the most painful way possible. But fortunately for the blonde, he was his best friend and the red head cared a lot about his best friend.

So, now Gaara was sitting in the Hot Springs with a towel wrapped around his lower half and blushing slightly pink from head to toe. He was cursing violently at Naruto within his own head, wishing that he didn't care so much for the blonde. He couldn't believe that Naruto managed to talk him into this. And he felt very vulnerable without his Sand. The Onsen keepers had somehow managed to talk him into not taking his sand gourd into the Hot Springs area. They wouldn't let him take it near the water. So he felt somewhat powerless as he sat in the hot water.

To make matters worst, the women's hot springs were just right on the other side of the large wall of the men's and Shukaku kept on suggesting to Gaara that he should go take a look to see if Sakura was over there. The red head not only cursed Naruto but Shukaku as well.

Sitting in silence, Gaara was leaning against a hot rock a little ways from where Naruto was sitting, who somehow found himself sitting in between Sai and Yamato. It made the young red head smirk a little to see how miserable the blonde was. It helped lighten his mood just a little for the blackmail Naruto put him through. Still, it didn't sit too well with the Sand demon within that he was in the same Hot Springs as a few other men.

"Aaahhh. I must say, it's being together, sitting in a Hot Springs like this that lets us guys really get to know each other. Good male bonding." Yamato said, his head leaning back. He actually looked like he was enjoying the hot water. The wood manipulator even glanced over at Naruto, looking for his agreement. "Don't you think?"

Naruto didn't answer but kept his head half way under water.

"I said," Yamato repeated, looking creepy again. "Don't you think?"

There was a light splash as Naruto leapt up to his feet and looked very uneasily at the ANBU sitting next to him. He had a look of horror and unease on his face as he drew away from him. Gaara made a face before closing his eyes and tried to relax. He felt somewhat uneasy by looking at Yamato too but it was the sight of Naruto in his birthday suit that made him really uneasy. He wished that the blonde hadn't talked him into this. So he closed his eyes to avoid any more sights he didn't want to see. "Yeah! Ye-yeah! Go-good male bonding! Now stop looking at me with those creepy eyes of yours!"

'Geez, what is with these guys?! And I thought we were a freak!' Shukaku grumbled in Gaara's head.

Gaara reopened his eyes and looked off to the side as if looking at the demon once again. 'Shukaku, knock it off.' He thought.

"Oh! I'll be damned. So you do have a dick after all." Sai suddenly said.

Even Gaara's eyes snapped wide when he heard that. He couldn't believe Sai at all. What in the world was he talking about? He felt his face fall to see that he was looking directly at Naruto's waistline. Rolling his eyes, he tore them away again, grumbling within his head. 'God, I want out of here.' he thought bitterly. He felt very flustered that Naruto wasn't wearing his towel like he was. It was his own fault for not doing it.

'Gaaaawwwwwddddd! This is so nasty, brat! Get us out of here! Bathing with other males is not my idea of fun!' Shukaku grumbled. Then there was a hint of mischievousness within his head and Gaara knew that the sand demon was up to no good. 'I'd rather bath with Sakura, wouldn't you?'

Now, Gaara's face felt hotter than the water he was sitting in. He was pretty sure he went as red as his hair. He couldn't believe that the demon even said that. More or less was even putting images in his head, which he forced out. 'Shukaku!' He yelled at the sand demon.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?! WHAT IS WITH YOU AND TALKING ABOUT DICKS?!" Naruto's voice bellowed out. "WHAT ARE YOU, GAY OR SOMETHING?!"

Though Gaara wasn't really paying too much attention to Naruto's outrage. He was too preoccupied with Shukaku's perverted-ness and it wasn't helping at all when the sand demon just kept on coaxing him into going over to the women's side. He was had to clench his hands into fists while trying very hard to think of a few ways of shutting the demon up.

'Oh, come on, Gaara. You cannot tell me you don't want to see her naked too. She's got such a hot...'

'SHUKAKU!' Gaara now yelled at his inner demon through their connection.

"What is gay?" came Sai's calm voice, though he sounded very confused by the word.

"Can we please not yell anymore? This isn't really helping our goal of getting to know each other." Yamato sighed as he rubbed his temples. He was very aware that many eyes were now looking towards them and he could hear laughter coming from on the other side of the wall, from the women's side. So obviously they could hear the fight that was breaking out on the men's side. "This is embarrassing."

"ARRRHHH! YOU ARE GAY, AREN'T YOU?! I'M BATHING WITH A GAY GUY!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at Sai, who was still rather calm about getting yelled at.

'Come on, Gaara! I wanna see Sakura too! Let's go check on her! I bet she's not wearing anything right now. Don't you want to see that?' Shukaku teased Gaara. 'Then later, we can claim her. It'll get rid of that tension you're feeling. We can mate her tonight if you want!' He sounded very excited.

It really couldn't be helped now. Hearing that just made Gaara's face grow redder from embarrassment and rage at the demon. He swore he was going to make the demon pay for this. "Shukaku! Shut up!" Gaara found himself yell out loud by accident. "I am not mating with Sakura tonight! Stop trying to talk me into it!"

Dead silence.

It only took a few seconds for Gaara to realize how quiet it had just gotten. He became aware that Naruto was no longer yelling at Sai and Sai wasn't making any more confused remarks to him. Even Yamato was quiet. His face flushing hotter, the young Kazekage turned his head slowly and saw that all eyes were on him. Most of the men in the Hot Springs looked like they were going to laugh at him while Naruto's eyes were wide with shock and bewilderment. Yamato only had a look of surprise and Sai, of course, didn't look fazed. He was only frowning at the red head, wondering what made him blow up next.

And to make his nerves even worst, Gaara heard giggles and laughter from the other side of the wall. He knew very well that almost all of the bathers must have heard his little outburst. And he was pretty sure that Sakura heard him too. Who wouldn't have? A few heads belonging to some of the Onsen workers popped into view to see what was going on. They looked just as surprised as everyone else did.

Groaning in embarrassment, Gaara closed his eyes before he sank deeper into the water until he was completely submerged under water. He heard Naruto call his name uneasily a few times but he completely ignored him. He was too embarrassed to respond. 'I hate you, Shukaku. I wish you would just die.' The red head thought, even though he knew it was a little childish to say it.

The sand demon only laughed at him. 'You can thank me later, kiddo.' He told him. The young Kazekage's only answer to that was a nasty swear word and a promise that he was going to cause the sand demon a lot of pain.


	5. Chapter Four

The Day before Team Seven left.

It was actually rather funny, Tsunade thought, as soon as she got done speaking to the young Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand and introducing him to Yamato. She thought it was funny of how things might turn out when Team Kakashi returned to the village. She was sure that they would bring back Sasuke but that did trouble her thoughts a little. She knew that if Sasuke Uchiha was brought back there would be trouble. There were quite a lot of people who were very mad at the youngest Uchiha alive. She, herself, was one of them. After all the pain that the boy had put her apprentice through when he left, she wanted nothing more than to beat the living tar out of him.

Her violent thoughts were interrupted though when Shizune knocked on the door then came in with a man right behind her. She didn't recognize the man. He was rather well tanned as if he had done a lot of work out in the sun, something that she wasn't not used to. A lot of the villagers worked out in the sun and got tans. But this man...he had a salty smell about him, as if he was from the ocean. "Hmm? Shizune, who's this?"

Shizune bowed respectfully to the Fifth Hokage before straightening to the man beside her. "Tsunade-shishou, this is Rangu, a bridge worker from the Land of the Waves. He came to the Leaf Village for supplies that only we have and he's requested for some Ninja body guards on his way back to the Wave City." She told her mentor.

Tsunade frowned but then waved the man into the room, which he obeyed. He smiled gently as he moved into the room and then bowed before the Fifth Hokage in great respect. After a few seconds, he straightened. "Lady Hokage, it is an honor to meet you. Forgive me if I was interrupting anything. But I was hoping I could request for a mission. You see, I came here for some of your Countrie's hard wood, requested by my employer, the Bridgemaster, Tazuna. He wanted me to purchase some of your lumber and now that I have, I'm afraid I need to get back to the Land of Waves soon. I was hoping I could request a team of Ninja for two reasons." He then pulled out a scroll from within his jacket and held it out to her. "This explains our needs. You see, we've been having a little bit of trouble with some renegades in the Wave Country. Former workers of the tyrant businessman, Gatou having been stirring up some trouble for our city and have been raiding traders that come to the Great Naruto Bridge, where many of our people does business with travellers of other lands. Because of the renegades, we've been having trouble with our businesses. So Tazuna-sama has asked for a little help. We can pay your ninja a good amount for helping us deal with the problems, seeing that our City has been flourishing after so many years since the help of some of your Leaf Ninja. We have been fighting some of them off but it's not nearly good enough." he then lowered himself to one knee and bowed before Tsunade, almost pleadingly. "Please, Lady Hokage. We would greatly appreciate the help."

There was a pause as Tsunade listened to what he said before she opened the scroll to look at it. She read the message before her lips curved upward a little, but it was a sad smile. She sighed before looking serious again and re-rolling the scroll, looking at Rangu. "I'm afraid we can't comply with your request."

The man's head came up sharply and he looked at the Hokage with horror of what she just said. He looked as if his dreams had just been shattered.

"The request dealing with the team of ninja you want, anyway. I'm afraid the team you wish for the help of is on another mission right at the moment and they won't be back for a little while." Tsunade continued her face softening. "But we will accept your mission request. I hope you can deal with another team in substituion over Team Kakashi. I know that Tazuna was looking forward to see the team members again after three years but like I said, that team is not available right now." She told him.

With a sigh, Rangu lowered his head but then smiled at the Hokage with relief. "Well, I can't say that Tazuna-senpai might not be a little disappointed that we can't request for Kakashi and his team. But he'll get over it." he then pushed himself to his feet and lift his head higher. "But, we will take the best that you can offer. We would rather have a team of Leaf Ninja that we're not familiar with than deal with the problems that the renegades care causing. So I accept any team that you will offer." He told the Hokage. He bowed at the waist again. "Thank you, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade nodded her head with a gentle smile before she looked seriously at Shizune. "Shizune! Call for Gai. I think it's time that he and his team to go on a mission. They've been damaging the Training Dojos enough as it is." She told her assistant.

Shizune just nodded as she bowed her head before she turned and left the room. Rangu, however, frowned at the name, Gai, and looked rather curious. "Gai? Is that a good ninja?" He asked, curiously.

The Fifth Hokage smiled at him and bobbed her head into a nod. She knew very well that Gai was well capable of handling this mission. Especially with his team. Besides, he and Rock Lee was causing quite the mess in the training areas where they trained. They were both so destructive when it came to training, even if they didn't mean to be. The Dojos needed a break of the two. It was hard to rebuild everything when they kept destroying them. "Gai Maito and his team are very skilled. Team Gai consists of two Jounin and two Chuunin. All of them are very powerful ninja. In fact, Gai is a little bit stronger than Kakashi. He'll be a great asset against the renegades. Him and his students would do well to protecting your City." She told Rangu.

The man blinked a few times in surprise before smiling with only a little uncertainty. But he would agree nonetheless. "I look forward to meeting them then. I'm sure I will like them."

There was such a strange but scary smile on the Hokage's face. She looked as if there was a hidden meaning for that smile and it really made the young man's skin crawl a little. He was wondering if that was the wrong thing to say. "Oh, I think you might like them a little, Rangu. But I can't guarantee it. They might...scare you a little, actually. They tend to do that with a few people they meet." She told him. And for some reason, Rangu felt as if a wave of dread fell over him. He felt that he might be regretting his decision after all. But he could only wonder.

"Hi, youthful new master client!" The overly cheerful, bowl cut haired Jounin greeted their new client as he bound up to him with his look alike right behind him. He was waving enthusiastically at the man standing before him, looking way too cheerful to be a ninja. Gai just grinned a sparkly grin at the man as he approached with Rock Lee bouncing with excitement and the other two were following with dull looks on their faces. Tenten and Neji did not look amused about how their former sensei was greeting the man who hired them. "We shall protect you with the power of youth! Trust us! We will deliver you to the Land of Waves safely and get rid of those pesky, ugly renegades that tortures your children of youth!" Gai said optimistically.

Rangu sweatdropped, all the while having a look of horror on his face. He had been very nervous about these Leaf Ninja after what Tsunade had said when he asked about the ninja but this was an understatement. When he asked of how scary the ninja were, the Fifth Hokage just smiled slyly and tilted her head.

"Well, they believe in the Power of Youth, that's for sure. They're good people but rather cheerful about their work." And that was all she had said.

But now that he saw Gai Maito and his student, Rock Lee, he couldn't help but fell like he was doomed. He knew that if they were going to be this loud and optimistic, he might as well paint a big bull's eye target on his chest and invite Gatou's renegades into killing him. "Oh, man. I am so going to die."

Unfortunately, Gai and Rock Lee hadn't heard that because they were immediately coming up with the best IMPOSSIBLE ways of getting safely to the Land of Waves, while Neji and Tenten had heard. Sighing, they both moved closer to Rangu and bowed their heads towards them. "Do not fear. Not all of us are complete idiots, sir." Neji spoke calmly before meeting the man's eyes with his white ones. He grew very serious as he looked at Rangu. "I am Neji Hyuuga, one of the powerful Hyuuga Clan and a Jounin of the Leaf Village." He explained.

"And I'm Tenten." The weapon's expert said smiling. "I'm one of the best Weapon's Experts the Leaf Village has to offer. Don't worry about Gai-Sensei and Rock Lee. They might be idiots but they're powerful ones. They are both the strongest Taijutsu specialists we have in the entire village. They know what to do when it comes to defending our clients. I know that this might not reassure you or anything, but you are in safe hands. We'll protect you and help you get rid of the renegades that are threatening your city."

Neji nodded as he glanced over his shoulder before sweat dropping when he saw both Gai and Lee now grabbing huge logs off of the wagon and piling them on their backs. He saw the shocked look on Rangu's face when he saw that they were now attempting to carry nearly four tons of logs, each. "Geez, those two..." The dark haired Hyuuga growled under his breath before watching as they began running down the path.

"Come along! We shall reach the Land of the Waves before tomorrow! We shall run the entire day and night and therefore, we shall rush!" Gai said cheerfully.

"Yes, Gai-Sensei! Let us race to our destination and be rid of the pests that threaten the lives of the peaceful Wave City! Come on, Neji-kun! Tenten-kun! Let us make haste!" Lee shouted as he and Gai nearly became spects on the main road from running so fast. All three, Neji, Tenten and their client, Rangu just stood right at the Gates of Konoha with sweat drops.

Of course, Gai and Lee hurried back when they realized that the rest of their team and their client was not following and decided that it was best to go a little slower because there was more than just logs that they needed to carry. Somehow in their haste, Gai and Lee had missed all of the supplies on the large wagon. So they decided they just needed to walk, which only caused the other two Leaf Ninja and Rangu to sigh with irritation. Rangu was really starting to regret that he went with this team. He knew that the Fifth Hokage probably did it on purpose by providing this team. And he knew very well that Tazuna was going to kill him for hiring this team instead of the team he wanted.

It did take nearly two days to reach the Land of Waves though.

While traveling the road to the Land of Waves, Rangu explained to mostly Neji and Tenten that the Wave City was actually very fond of Team Kakashi, due to the fact that three years before, they had served them by protecting the Bridgemaster, Tazuna to his home. There, they protected him from Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mists, whom Gai knew from the Bingo books. Just hearing that name made him grow serious and out of his childish mood, which stunned Rangu. The Leaf Jounin had heard a lot about Zabuza and knew how dangerous the man had once been. But he also heard that he was dead.

Rangu eventually told them that the Demon of the Mists was dead, killed by the renegades of the Gatou after he killed the businessman, himself. With a little help from Kakashi.

The story went on though of how Team Kakashi had saved the Wave City from Gatou and his men, along from Zabuza and his tool, Haku. To hear the way the young man, Haku died though, that was a strange mystery. They didn't exactly understand how he had died, even though Rangu claimed that it had been Kakashi who killed him. "If Kakashi's target was Zabuza though, I'm pretty sure he would have been able to dodge around this kid, Haku and strike his target." Gai remarked thoughtfully as they walked down the road. He didn't believe for a second that it had been Kakashi who killed the boy, Haku. It must have been someone else.

Still, it stunned Team Gai when Rangu explained how Tazuna and his grandson, Inari had named the large bridge the old man built, The Great Naruto Bridge.

"You have go to be kidding me!" Tenten said with wide eyes. "They actually named a bridge after Naruto?!"

Neji sweat dropped at the very thought. He couldn't believe it either. To name a bridge after Konoha's biggest blockhead? That was most unheard of. But then again, Naruto always did have that way with people. So with a sigh, he glanced over at Tenten, who still looked entirely bewildered. "Let's not worry about what the bridge is called right now, Tenten. If it's named after Naruto, then it's the Wave people's problem. We're just here to deliever Mr. Rangu back to his city and get rid of the renegades." he told her. With her nose crinkled, Tenten nodded in agreement.

So for the last two days, they kept on walking until they came to a harbor, where a large boat was waiting to recieve them. Rangu seemed to have known the Captain and had gotten each of the Leaf Ninja a cabin of their own so they could rest. Of course, Gai and Lee didn't. They chose to train on the deck while Neji and Tenten cleaned up.

Finally, not more than two hours later, they arrived to the Great Naruto Bridge, where to their amazement, there was a string of stands and entertainment for traders and visitors to bargain with or enjoy their selves. They were just amazed that the bridge was so big in the first place. It was big enough for nearly fifty merchant stands. The Leaf Ninja looked around with awe as they walked with Rangu and his wagon across the bridge, looking at the stands as they passed by them. There were stands selling clothing, fabric, jewelry, sweets and even weapons. The Weapons stand was caught Tenten's attention. She looked at all of the weapons with excitement and even looked to Gai and Rangu as if asking for permission to checking some of them out. Gai just smiled and shook his head before folding his arms and looking to Rangu for the approval.

For a second, Rangu hesitated but then he sighed softly and smiled before he too nodded. "It's all right. Might as well since we're here. Go ahead. Master Tazuna won't mind. He's too soft hearted for it." he told them.

Squealing a little with excitement, Tenten bounded over to the Weapons stand and began looking at the weapons. Neji rolled his eyes but there was a hint of a smile on his face. He couldn't help but smile to see Tenten so excited. He knew very well how much she liked weapons and sharp objects. Even Gai and Lee had to smile as they watched her. Lee then looked around for himself, walking backwards a little. He was amazed by all that these people had done with the bridge. He hadn't believed that it was a place of business and entertainment. His eyes fell onto a stage not too far away where a few people were showing off amazing looking animals. He smiled as he watched some before he looked over to see a rope tied to two tall posts. He frowned a little with curiousity as he stared up at it. Shrugging, Lee went over to man looking up at the posts, looking satisfied. "Excuse me, sir." He said.

"Huh?" The man hummed before turning to look at Lee. "Uh, oh! A Leaf Ninja! What can I do for you, master ninja?" He asked smiling.

Lee beamed after being called a master but he shook his head as he pointed at the posts. "I am only curious. What is the posts and rope for? It looks like a tight rope." he stated.

The man snorted as he placed his hands onto his waist but then nodded as if he was agreeing with him. "It is, son. Sometimes we challenge people to walk the rope and win prizes. Of course, the way you walk it is what matters. We want it to be very entertaining for the viewers. If you can impress the watchers, you win a great prize!" he said grinning.

Lee's eyes lit up brightly to hear that. By what this man was saying, it sounded like a great challenge. "Really?! What would be the prize, if I may ask?" He asked with enthusiasm.

The man started chuckling but he shook his head and folded his arms. He looked rather mischievious about the whole idea actually. "Well, the usual prizes are money, certain sweets, and such as that. But today's prize...he, he, he." He chuckled as if he was a sinister plotter. "Today, I managed to talk our tight rope champ into promising a kiss to the one who can beat her record." He said rubbing his chin.

The Taijutsu specialist looked surprised to hear that, but he could only frown as he tilted his head to the side. "A kiss? Um...do not think me rude but why a kiss?" He asked, curiously.

The man just chuckled and shook his head slowly. He was quiet for a minute before he tilted his head to the side and looking at Lee lazily. "Have you even seen our tight rope champ? Trust me, when you see her, you'll change your mind about winning a kiss from her. Because she is simply gorgeous. She doesn't think so, but more than half of the boys of Wave City have been trying to win her heart since she even came here." He then blinked and turned around when there came a sound of a drum being beaten on. "Oh! It's going to be starting soon!" He looked back at Lee, grinning at him. "Why don't you stick around and watch the show? You might find this very interesting!" He told him before hurrying over to stand in front of the poles.

Lee, however, felt a little excited. He wondered exactly what kind of show that the man was talking about. So, with his interest, he quickly went over to the rest of his team to get them. "Gai-sensei! A performance is about to start! I ask for permission to watch it!" He said brightly pointing over to the posts and rope.

Gai frowned as he looked over with Rangu, who's eyes brightened when he saw the tight rope. So obviously their client knew about what performance they were talking about. "Oh! Alea's performing today?!" he grinned at Gai, giving him a nod. "You and your team should watch this! This is one of the Wave City's most best performances we have to offer! Especially with Alea!" He told them.

"Who's Alea?" Neji asked now frowning but there was some interest in his eyes.

Rangu just chuckled as he looked over at the Hyuuga and even at Tenten when she finished playing around with some of the weapons. They both looked interested. Even Gai was listening with interest. They liked the sound of this "Alea." Rangu just shrugged as he folded his arms and shifted his weight. "You'll find out soon enough. She's quite the looker but has a very fiesty attitude." His eyes wandered away before brightening. "Oh! Here she comes now!" He announced pointing towards the posts. All four of the Leaf Ninja blinked before turning to see where he was pointing, only to freeze.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls!" The man whom Lee had spoken to before bellowed as he stood on a thin log, balancing himself on it. "Please, direct your eyes on me! We have quite the show today for you! A dangerous challenge in deed! Let the Tight Rope Challenge Begin!" he then threw his hand out towards the tight rope. "And, as you all know, we challenge people to walk this dangerous line to win the best prizes Wave City can offer! For today's prize, the new champion who can beat our previous one will win a lucious kiss from our very own, beautiful Alea!" He called out, drawling out the name like an announcer.

Suddenly there came a sudden explosion of flames, making many people cry out in surprise and alarm, before a twister of flames swirled right up to one of the posts and a girl appeared stepping onto the post, balancing on top of it with only one foot, while the other was stretched out behind her. She wore tight, form fitting pants and a black sleeveless top. She had fair, deep brown skin and short black hair with violet streaks, while her eyes were a strange amber color. She was no doubt a very beautiful girl and not much older than Lee, Neji and Tenten. She was actually a little younger than them.

Lee, however, froze with awe as he looked up at her. He felt as if the world had just stopped moving all around him. Now he understood what the man from before had meant.

Of course, quite a few men felt the same way as they looked up at the little beauty on the post but instead of freezing with awe like Lee, they began to cheer and whistle up at the girl, who straightened herself as she placed her hands onto her waist. She just put on a sly smile as she looked around the crowd, not even seeming to not even notice the calls she was getting. She merely glanced down at the man who was making the announcement. "Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls! May I have complete silence." The man requested and slowly, everything went quiet. Everyone only watched as the man then motioned to the girl, who nodded. "Watch carefully! And try not to make a sound. For if you do, our beautiful Alea may fall to her death into the river!" He announced.

Hearing that, Lee drew in a breath and held it, without even realizing that he did. He held his breath, as if he knew that if he breathed too loudly, the girl would fall and die. He didn't even see how Gai frowned, narrowing his eyes in confusion as he watched the girl but then folded his arms. He looked somewhat suspicious actually.

The girl, Alea lift her head and looked down at the rope between each post before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stood there for a very long moment, finding some peace and quiet before she opened her eyes with a very determined look on her face. She stood there for a few seconds before she began walking across the tightrope, her arms stretched out to her sides. The rope swayed a little with her on it, making a few people squeak with fear. Even Tenten squeaked a little as she watched with wide eyes. The announcer held up a finger to his lips to shush everyone before turning his eyes back onto Alea as she carefully began walking across the rope, stopping in the middle. She stood there, looking rather tense as a breeze began to blow, making her swing a little.

"Oh, no. She's going to fall!" The announcer suddenly gasped, making quite a few people gasp with him. And the girl began to sway violent with a look of terror on her face, which caused a few women to scream.

Lee breathed in sharply before starting to move forward as if to go save the girl from falling but he had to stop when Rangu grabbed his arm, holding him back. He was smiling, which made the Ninja frown in confusion. "Relax, Rock Lee. Alea'll be fine. It's apart of her act. Get everyone riled up and think she's in danger before she really puts on her show. Just watch." He told him gently. Lee frowned with the others but watched.

Alea started to fall forward which still made the ninja tense but then she put on a sly smirk before crouching low to the rope and leaping high into the air. The action made more women scream and a few men yelp but she paid no attention to them. Instead, she jumped about five into the air before flipping backwards and landing back on the rope, standing on her hands. Loud energetic music from below began to play while she flipped herself over to her feet and she stood up. With her hands into the air, she smiled brightly before she began back flipping on the rope, keeping her balance rather well. She backflipped several times before landing on one foot, on top of the post, looking like a ballet dancer standing on her tippy toes.

As soon as the act was over, the crowd burst into cheers and applause while Alea straightened herself and took her bow. People just cheered loudly and clapped hard. Some were even yelling out her name, cheering her on. With a smile, Alea stood up straighter before she jumped from the post, landing on the platform right next to the announcer in a crouch. But then she stood up, taking the man's hand, who motioned to her while everyone applauded. "Ladies, Gentlemen, boys and girls! I give you, Alea! Wave City's Tight Rope Champion!" The man bellowed before pulling a way from Alea, who held her hands out to the side and bowed her head before straightening and placing her hands onto her waist. "And here is your chance to win a kiss from this exotic beauty! Who will take the Tight Rope challenge and win the kiss from our lovely Alea?! Any challengers?"

Slowly the applause went quiet and everyone began looking around at each other while waiting for the challenger to step forward. Alea was smirking as she looked around though. She really didn't even believe that anyone would take the challenge. Not many would. It was a pretty dangerous thing to do to walk a tight rope, which was right on the edge of the bridge and hovering right over a fifty foot drop right into the water below the bridge. In fact, only a few had ever tried the challenge but never been able to beat her record.

There were a few murmurs before...

"I will take the challenge!" Came Lee's voice.

The other members of Team Gai all jumped before looking at their teammate with shock and disbelief. They couldn't believe he had said that. Most eyes turned sharply to look at who just accepted the challenge, including the girl, but she froze with surprise when she saw Lee. Neji and Tenten gave Lee a look before they both grabbed his arms when he started to walk forward. "Lee! What are you doing?! Do you seriously have a death wish?! You can't walk a tight rope! You've never done it before!" The weapon's specialist exclaimed at him.

Lee shook his head as he grinned at them. "That's why I shall try it! I can do this, so do not worry! I know I can walk that rope!" He told Tenten.

Neji shook his head as he gave his teammate a very skeptical look. He kept a firm grip on his arm, making sure he didn't move any closer. "Lee, there things that you can do and there are things you can't. Not right off. You've never tried walking a rope before and you haven't been trained to do it. If you try that now, you will fall and hurt yourself." He warned him.

The ninja clad in green just gave him a sparkling smile before pulling his arms free from his teammates. "Just trust me, Neji. I can do this. Just believe in me." He told them before he turned and walked towards the stage, giving the announcer a thumbs up. "I will be your challenger! I wish to try and walk the rope and win the kiss from the beautiful girl, Alea!" he told him. He didn't even seem to see the look the girl was giving him as she looked him over. She was obviously not impressed with his appearance.

But the announcer just shrugged as he waved Lee forward. "Very well. We have our challenger!" He paused glancing at the unusual ninja next to him. "What's your name, young man?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lee just turned his dark eyes onto Alea, who was still giving him a look of disgust. He didn't seem fazed though. He just grinned at her and gave her a nod. "My name is Rock Lee, a ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village! It's nice to meet a beautiful girl like you, Alea." He said offering his hand to the girl, who crinkled her nose but folded her arms. But with a shrug, he looked at the announcer. "May I try now?"

"Yes, why not?" The man then turned to look at the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you our challenger! Rock Lee, of the Hidden Leaf Village!" And everyone on the bridge burst into cheers and applause. Some men were actually looking forward to seeing this guy make a fool out of himself other than he already looked. And a few were already making jokes about how Alea would have to kiss this guy if he won. She didn't like that, and even shot those men a dark look for it. "Now, let us set up the ladder so that our friend, here, can climb up the pole and see if he can walk the rope." He told a few assistants, who were already propping the ladder up against the post.

Lee, however shook his head as he removed his back and dropped it down onto the ground. "There is no need for a ladder. I can get up there without it." He told them before he he ran at the post and ran right up it to the top. He smiled, pleased with himself when people awed at how he got up the post. Standing on the top, the young Chuunin glanced down at the crowd and even offered his teammates a thumbs up.

"Geez, the idiot is going to get himself killed." Neji remarked dryly as he, Tenten and Gai watched as he stood on the post. Gai, however, was just frowning as he watched carefully, his eyes flickering over to the girl, Alea a few times. He narrowed his eyes when he saw her folded her arms and shift her weight, looking impatient.

Above, everyone was watching Lee as he looked down at the rope, taking a deep breath. He knew this was going to be very hard to do. He had never tried walking on a rope before. Tree walking, water walking, that was hard enough for anyone who wasn't a ninja. But rope walking? He didn't think he ever saw a ninja do it. But with a deep breath, he stepped onto the rope...

And went falling right off it and off the bridge, for the river below.

"Lee!" Tenten screamed his name as he fell.

Both Neji and Gai breathed in sharply before they hurried over to the railing and looked down just in time to see Lee land right in the water. However, almost all people began laughing after watching him fall right off the rope. Some were shaking their head. Alea just sighed and rolled her eyes as she watched him fall into the water before turning away. "Leaf idiot." She muttered. "I actually thought that he'd do it." She started to walk away though, tapping the announcer's chest. "I'm..."

"Wait!" came Lee's voice as soon as he rushed right back up the bridge, sopping wet. He didn't seem to care that he was wet. "I'd like to try again!"

Like most, Alea turned around, looking somewhat surprised. That had at least made some people stop laughing at the green clad ninja. They were surprised that he got back up on the bridge so fast and was determined for a second try. They couldn't believe he was even going to try it. The man even looked bewildered. "Uh...Are you sure? The next time you fall, you could fall the other way and land hard on the..."

"No, let him. I'm actually looking forward to seeing him crack his head open." Alea said, smirking as she folded her arms over her chest. "I had heard that Leaf Ninja were extremely stubborn when they decide to do something." She motioned towards the post. "Go right ahead, Ninja. Try it again. But even if you did walk that rope, I won't reward you with a kiss. I don't kiss Leaf Ninja." She said a little too coldly before she turned around and started to walk away.

Tenten and Neji both blinked in surprise before they saw the look on Rock Lee's face. It was the same look they had seen before, when he found out that Sakura Haruno was now dating Gaara of the Sand. It had hurt Lee just a little but he had known that he would never win Sakura's heart. They were still friends. But this girl...she seemed to have struck a nerve in Lee. "Hey! The Weapon's specialist snapped as she took a few steps after her. "What is that suppose to mean?! Wasn't the deal that if someone managed to walk the rope, you'd reward them a kiss?!"

Alea rolled her eyes as she turned back around, though was walking backwards. "Ye-ah. I suppose that was the deal. But did he walk the line? No, he fell into the river. But then again, even if he did, why in the hell do you think I would kiss someone that looks like him, more or less, a Leaf Ninja?"

"You sound like you have a problem with Leaf Ninja." Neji said drly, giving her a look of warning.

The black/violet haired girl just smiled bitterly as she folded her arms and took another step away from them. "And what if I do? What are you going to do about it?" She asked just as dryly. "As far as I know about you Leaf Ninja, you are from a very large village, who think you are better than everyone else. Just because you guys practically won the Great Shinobi War, you guys are stronger, faster and more lethal."

Gai folded his arms, a sly smile on his face as if he had just realized something about the girl in front of them. He didn't even look annoyed that this girl had insulted his prized student. "You sure know a lot about the Great Shinobi War, for a civilian." He smiled when Alea looked at him with surprise before glaring at him. "Then again, I don't think you're a civilian. Now are you? You're a ninja, yourself. Aren't you?" He asked, very well aware that his three students were surprised by his accusation.

There was a very long pause as Alea glared right into Gai's eyes, looking very annoyed. She glared at him for a moment before she slowly shook her head and turned away. "I don't know know what you're talking about. I don't even know my real name. I can't remember it." She said coolly before walking away.

The Leaf ninja just frowned in surprise as they watched her go, though Neji didn't believe her for a second. He knew she had to be lying. And Tenten shared his thoughts. She just glared after the girl, shaking her head. "What a load of bull..."

"No. She's not lying. And if she is, she's been telling the same story over and over, and over." Came an older voice.

All four of the Leaf Ninja turned around only to see an elderly man making his way over to them. He was at least in his sixties, yet fit as a horse. He had deeply tanned skin, white hair and beard and he had an official look about him for a bridgemaster. He wore a blue muscle shirt with dark brown trousers. A large rice hat sat on top of his head, protecting his face from the sun. On his face, he wore thin rimmed glasses and a curious look as he looked each of the Leaf Ninja over. He had a frown but he still looked curious. After a moment, he looked over at Rangu. "Rangu, this don't look like Kakashi and his team." He remarked, unamused.

Rangu cringed a little before sighing. "I'm sorry, Tazuna-senpai. But the team that you requested for was already on another mission." He said.

"Forgive us since we're not the ninja you wanted." Neji said dryly, feeling highly annoyed by the reaction by the old man, who obviously was the Bridgemaster that sent for the Leaf Ninja in the first place.

Tazuna blinked a few times as he looked at the stoic ninja with white eyes before he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He got the idea of why the young man was so annoyed and really couldn't blame him. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you, young Ninja. I should probably watch what I say. I've underestimated you Leaf Ninja before and I got a surprise slapped right into my face." He chuckled before dropping his hand and looking at Gai. "Please, forgive me. I was just looking forward to seeing Kakashi and his kids again. I still owe my very life to that lot. Plus my grandson is really good friends with the two kids, Naruto and Gaara. He was really looking forward to seeing them." He told him.

Gai just smiled and shook his head as he placed his hand onto his waist. "Oh, don't worry about it. We understand. And don't mind Neji." he glanced at the annoyed looking prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan. "He's just sour about that girl. She wasn't very friendly to us." He told him.

The old man glanced off into the direction where Alea went but then he let out a light sigh and shook his head. "Oh, don't mind Alea. She's...she's a complicated young woman." He turned his eyes back to the Leaf Ninja. "She wasn't lying to you by the way. She doesn't remember who she is. She's been suffering from amnesia for the past month. We don't really know what happened to her but I do remember finding that poor kid wandering down by the beach, hurt pretty bad. I don't think she likes ninja too much because she was attacked by a few. At least that's my guess. She's actually a sweet girl once you get to know her. She's just really quiet and doesn't talk about herself. At least of what she can remember. She's been helping us quite a lot around here. She even puts on these shows," He motioned to the tight rope posts. ", just to help bring more tourists to Wave City for businesses. She's got great balance, as you've seen. I can't really say if she's a ninja or not. She knows how to fight, yeah. She's actually taken on some of those renegades that we're asking you guys to take care of. And she's the reason why they haven't came after us for a about two weeks. She really kicked the hell out of some of 'em two weeks ago." he told them.

Neji and Tenten glanced at one another, sharing the same thoughtful frowns but then turned their eyes back onto Tazuna. "So why do you need us if she can take care of them, herself?" The Hyuuga asked.

Tazuna just sighed and shook his head as he folded his arms over his chest. "The other night, she was out gathering fire wood for my daughter and she caught a glimpse of nearly a hundred renegades camping out down in the forest. Now, she did try to fight them off, but some of those guys were rogue ninja. That's probably why she doesn't like ninja very much. She doesn't trust others very easily. When we first met, it took me some time to gain her trust. I know she don't fully trust me but that's as close as it's going to get. The only person she fully trusts is my grandson, Inari." He told them.

Rock Lee frowned as he listened but then brightened. "Maybe I can get her to trust me! Show her that I mean no harm!" He said brightly.

Tenten and Neji glanced at him before rolling their eyes. They both knew very well that it wasn't just that he wanted Alea to trust him. They had seen that look on his face when he first saw her. It was the same look he always had when he first showed interest in Sakura Haruno. So obviously, he'd forgotten about his crush on Sakura. It looked like he moved on. "Lee, don't be an idiot. That girl, Alea just insulted you. And as far as we know, she could be an enemy ninja. Even if she doesn't know that she's a ninja." Neji said dryly.

Everyone looked at the stoic ninja but Rock Lee looked rather stubborn. And he was. He wanted to meet Alea again. He wanted to try and get her to trust him and maybe they could become friends. So instead of saying anything to Neji, he looked at Tazuna. "Please, kind sir! Do you know where I can find Alea? I must talk to her and try to become her friend!"

"More like ask her out." Tenten murmured under her breath. But she was ignored by her teammate.

Tazuna chuckled but shook his head as he folded his arms over his chest again. He seemed very amused by Lee's persistency. But with a shrug, he turned slightly away from the ninja. "Really? Well, if you really think you can gain her trust and make a friend out of her, I'd love to see that happen. She's a lonely little kit, I'll tell ya. She doesn't like interacting with others very much. She always act as if she's afraid to make friends. Like I said, my grandson is the only one she trusts. But other wise, you can find her at my place. I've been letting her stay with my family. You're welcomed to stay with us too, if you'd like."

Looking very excited, Rock Lee threw a fist into the air and nodded vigorously. "Yes! We accept!" He said brightly before turning around and pointing off towards the end of the bridge. "Let us go now!" And he zoomed away, leaving a cloud of dust behind him and his three teammates.

Both Neji and Tenten shook their heads with dry stares on their faces while Gai chuckled as he folded his arms over his chest. He was amused by Lee's determination. Tazuna was also chuckling and shaking his head. "Interesting weird kid you've got there, Leaf Ninja. I just hope he knows what kind of trouble he's getting himself into. Alea's very fiesty and she's not afraid to bite hard." He then shrugged. "Also, he's going the wrong way. My house is that way." He said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder to the other side of the bridge. That only caused Neji and Tenten to roll their eyes and shake their heads. They didn't like this. They were pretty sure that Alea wasn't who she was saying that she was. They knew that she had to be a ninja from another village. But the only question was, what village?


	6. Chapter Five

Upon reaching Tazuna's house, of course, after Lee realized that he went the wrong way and returned to his team on the bridge, everyone was surprised how the old man's house was. It was sitting right above water in a bay with a dock and a walkway leading towards the house. It was on the walkway where the Leaf Ninja spotted a young boy working on fixing a few of the boards. He was actually hammering nails into the walkway, keeping the boards from coming up. But when he looked up to see Tazuna, he grinned and pushed himself to his feet. He didn't even seem to notice that none of the ninja were not the ninja he hoped to see. He just hurried over and threw his arms around Tazuna.

But then he noticed the ninja and frowned.

There was a long pause as all of the Leaf Ninja watched the boy stare at him. They could all tell that he wasn't particularly happy to see them instead of Team Kakashi. All of them knew that he wasn't. Tenten even leaned over to Neji and Lee, still watching the boy. "He doesn't look too happy, does he?" She whispered. Both young men glanced at her but shook their heads.

Tazuna heard but shook his head with smile before looking down at his grandson. He just stepped away from him for a second as he motioned to the Leaf Ninja. "Inari, these are the ninja that Konoha Village sent to us. Leaf Ninja, this is my grandson, Inari." he told all of them.

All of the ninja bowed their heads in respect to the boy. They even offered mild smiles to him. Inari, however, just frowned as he looked each one of the ninja over but crinkled his nose. The only one that he seemed impressed with was only Tenten. He even offered her a smile in return. But he frowned at the guys. Especially at Gai and Rock Lee. Then he turned his eyes onto Tazuna, pointing at them. "Grandpa, this isn't Naruto and Gaara and Sakura and Sasuke. Where are they? And what's with the weirdos with weird eyebrows? And the girls? Are the freaks' girlfriends?" He asked.

Everyone froze at the young boy's remarks. Even both Gai and Rock Lee. They both honestly didn't care that the kid just called them weirdos. They were used to people making fun of their bushy eyebrows. But...hearing "the girls," they knew very well that he wasn't just talking about Tenten. He was calling Neji a girl too. They winced and glanced over at Neji, who looked surprised for a second before his face twisted with anger and balled up his fists. "I am NOT a girl!" He practically yelled, his face flushed with rage and embarrassment. Everyone drew back in alarm. It wasn't very often did Neji lose his temper just because of something someone said. But the insult of being called a girl hit him a little hard.

Even Inari drew back in alarm probably from being yelled at but then he smirked as if he thought of something else to say. "What are you then, a girl wanna be? A cross dresser? 'cause you sure look like a girl." He remarked.

It was actually a surprise to the other members of Team Gai but Neji actually blew up with rage. He was usually one who kept calm about most things. But that was the last straw. He balled up his fists, looking very angry before starting forward as if he was going to hit Inari, but Rock Lee and Gai quickly caught him, knowing very well that was what he was intended to do. Tazuna just sighed and shook his head as he gave his snickering grandson a look. "Inari." He breathed.

After calming Neji down, everyone went into the house to rest a little and get something to eat. They were greeted by Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, who scolded her son when she found out that he insulted one of the Leaf Ninja. She even made him apologize to Neji, who accepted the apology with a grumpy look. It was rather funny though. When they met her, Gai's reaction towards her was just like Lee's to Alea. He grinned at her and offered to take her on a date. The very question made both Neji and Tenten slap their foreheads and groan, while Rock Lee rooted his sensei on. Tazuna and Inari both glared at the Leaf Jounin. Of course, Tsunami just laughed softly and didn't look too bothered by the request. She shook her head and declined politely. Gai wasn't bothered at all by the rejection. Instead, he just requested that they become friends. That, Tsunami agreed to.

Still, the fact that the girl, Alea wasn't at the house bothered Lee. He had glanced around, hoping that she was there. But he was disappointed when Tsunami announced that Alea hadn't come home just yet. She told them that Alea usually did this a lot. She never came home until around dusk.

"She goes train in the trees." Inari said as he helped his mother dish out dinner for the Leaf Ninja, half heartedly.

All four of the Leaf Ninja looked at him with surprise. They hadn't really expected that to come out of his mouth. But frowning, Neji tilted his head to the side, looking at Inari. He seemed to have thought of something to ask Inari about Alea. His mind was still somewhat on the first confrontation with that girl. "Inari," He spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "What do you know about Alea? Is she a ninja?"

Inari crinkled his nose as he looked right at the long haired ninja before turned his nose up away from him. "If she is, I'm not telling you. Especially if you think she's an enemy or somewhat. She's been nothing but nice to me since we met! So if she is a ninja, I'm not selling her to you!"

"Inari!" Tsunami scolded.

Tenten smiled as she thought of a way to get him to tell. So she smiled at the boy and leaned over towards him, batting her eyes a little. "Would you tell me, Inari?" She asked, ignoring the fact that Neji had been hissing threats towards the boy. She saw very well that Neji, Lee and Gai blinked in surprise at how she was talking somewhat flirtatious towards the young 12 year old.

Of course, it seemed to work because Inari started blushing as he looked away from Tenten. But he merely shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Ummm...I don't know if she's...um, a ninja. She doesn't have one of those headbands." He motioned to the Leaf forehead protector that Tenten was wearing, which she glanced up at before turning her eyes back to Inari. "...but she can fight. I saw her take on some of the bad guys who's been threatening the city. She really kicked their ass, that's for sure. She moved really fast and was jumping around too much to avoid their attacks. She looked kind of like a cat or something while she was beating on them." He merely shrugged. "She has power over fire. Or that's what she said. Some guys tried to use fire against her and she turned it right back onto him."

All of the Leaf Ninja frowned as they listened to what Inari told them. Even Lee had to as he thought about Alea. He wondered what Inari meant by power over fire. Was it anything like what Gaara did with sand? That made his eyes lit up a little to think about it. He would definitely have to try and ask Alea, if he ever could get her to trust him. He would do anything to get her to learn that he was a nice guy and he would never hurt her.

"Tazuna-san," Tenten began with a frown. "Exactly how did you come across Alea again?"

The guys of Team Gai looked just as curious as she did. And Tazuna knew that it was better to just tell them. So with a sigh, he reached up and removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of how to think of how to answer that. "It was almost two months ago, or a month in a half." He began to explain. "Me and a few of the guys were out on a fishing trip. Inari was with us, of course." He motioned to his grandson. "We were out in the bay, fishing for the monthly fish gathering. We had caught quite a lot of fish that day too. It was like luck had struck us gold. We hardly ever had that much fish. But then Inari shouted at me and pointed off to the beach. I looked and there she was. She was limping across the sand, looking like a drowned animal. Poor kid. She was hurt pretty bad. She had this nasty gash in her leg and looked rather beat up. I think she might've fallen of a cliff or something. But either way, I knew she needed our help." He sighed shaking his head. "Though, as soon as we approached her, she refused to let us near her. She acted as if we had came at her with weapons and were trying to hurt her. She was pretty scared of us. The poor kid."

"Yeah. But she wasn't scared of me." Inari interrupted, making all of the Leaf Ninja glance at him.

Tazuna smiled and nodded as he looked proudly at his grandson. "That's right. Inari was the only one she let get close to her. He went right up to her and took her hand, saying that we were there to help her. She still didn't trust us but she let us go to her and help her. She lashed out only a few times when we moved too fast for her. One of the guys got a pretty nasty scratch but he didn't mind. We all knew she was just scared of us." He shrugged. "Well, I brought her home and Tsunami got her right well cleaned up. She didn't trust her either but she never lashed at her. That first night here, she let Inari sleep with her, just as a calming solution. Like I said, she fully trusts him. It's probably because he's just a kid. She's really protective over him, as he is of her." He said grinning at his grandson and ruffling his wild black hair.

Rock Lee just smiled, along with Gai and Tenten. Neji still didn't like the sound of Alea. He knew very well that something was missing. "So, she's been claiming that she doesn't remember who she is?" He asked still a little suspicious.

Inari frowned at him, already catching the suspicion but Tazuna shook his head as he placed his glasses back on the end of his nose and gave Neji a pointed look. "I know why you're suspicious of Alea and I don't blame you. You ninja have to be suspicious of everyone you don't know. I learned that from Kakashi. But Alea is not like you or Kakashi. She's still scared of everyone and keeps her distance from everyone but Inari. But even she's told Inari that she doesn't remember. And she practically tells him everything. He's the only one who can hold a long conversation with her. She hasn't told him anything she hasn't told us. She does not remember who she is or where she is from. And if you go bugging her about her past, I suggest you don't. Like I said, she's willing to bite hard. And I don't mean the literately. She's just got a very harsh tongue when provoked."

"Okay, so instead of us getting into an argument about Alea, how about you tell us how you know Kakashi again." Gai announced, adverting the subject anymore.

So with a smile, Tazuna told Team Gai how he hired Kakashi and his students to protect him as he returned to the Land of the Waves, only to have lied to them about how much danger he had been in. He explained of why he had lied to Kakashi and his team and they still protect him from the threats against him. He even told them about how the Mist Demon, Zabuza Momochi was the one who was trying to kill, hired by the rich business tyrant, Gatou. Of course, Gai knew about Zabuza. He had read about him in Bingo books and he knew very well how dangerous that man had been. And then after the little tale about how much Team Kakashi had done for the Wave City, Gai explained to the family of what Kakashi and his kids were up to. Hearing Sasuke became a traitor to the Leaf Village didn't settle too well for the family. It made them all frown with sad looks and look away. But it made Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami all smile when they heard that Gaara was now the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village.

"Yeah! I knew that Red would something great! I just knew it! He was always such a serious kid but you knew very well that he cared about those he mingled with." Tazuna said grinning. He motioned to Inari. "He and Naruto really were great kids to Inari!"

Of course, hearing that Gaara had died for almost three minutes didn't settle too well on their part either. Inari actually started crying when he heard that Gaara had been in such danger. It surprised the family of three that Gaara had had a demon spirit sealed up inside of him, which Gai was surprised at himself for his honesty. But he felt as if he could trust this family by telling them that. Besides, it wouldn't take too long for everyone to find out about Naruto and Gaara being bijuu carriers. Most of everyone of the Fire and Wind Country knew about them. Soon enough, the stories were done and Tazuna even told the Leaf Ninja about Inari's father, Kaiza and what he had done to become the hero of the city. Just by hearing that story, it had the four members of Team Gai give Inari a look of pity but had faint smiles on their faces.

"Well, either way, it's gonna be nice to have some help around here. Gatou's men have been terrorizing some of our business partners long enough." Tsunami said as she went to do the dishes, seeing that dinner was done. She gave Tenten a warm smile when she offered to help out. But then she turned back and pointed at the low fire in the fire place. "Dad, the fire's going down. We need more fire wood." She told the old man.

Immediately, Lee stood up and threw a hand into the air, grinning at the whole family. "Please! Allow me to fetch the firewood! I wish to make myself useful around here!" He said, brightly.

Chuckling, Tazuna nodded as he waved his hand towards the door. He had to admit it, but Rock Lee was an interesting kid. A bit weird looking but he was interesting, no less. Plus he was making it easy for the old man to just sit around and do nothing. He knew that later on he'd get yelled at by his daughter, but why not enjoy it while it lasted. "All righty! That'd be super! Enjoy yourself!" He said just as brightly as Lee. Lee actually whooped before he turned and rushed towards the door, very well aware that everyone was either laughing, or Neji and Tenten were rolling their eyes.

However, before Lee could open the door, it opened itself and he didn't even have the chance to stop himself before he collided with the one who came in.

CRASH!

Both Lee and the girl, Alea collided into one another and went sailing to the ground, startling everyone else. They all looked over at the door with alarmed wide eyes, only to see the worst scene. Lee was lying right on top of a startled Alea. He was directly on top of her, while she looked up at him with shock. Neji winced with a low groan. "Oh, that's not good." He muttered.

"Alea! Hello!" Lee said smiling brightly when he saw that it was her.

Tenten also groaned and slapped her forehead. She knew very well that was the wrong thing to do first. She knew this wasn't going to turn out too well.

WHAM!

There was a green blur as Rock Lee went sailing across the room after Alea had slammed her fist into his face to get him off of her. She was quickly on her feet in a crouch, looking ready for a fight and a hiss coming out from between her teeth. "What are YOU doing here?! And why did you take your precious time getting off of me, you pervert?!" She yelled at Lee as he crashed right against the wall.

Everyone winced but Tsunami gave Alea a stern look, her fists on her waist. "Alea! Stop shouting in the house and don't be hitting our guests! You know better than that." She said strictly.

Alea merely glanced over at her but then turned her glare back onto Lee, who held his cheek where a red mark appeared when he got punched by this girl. She slowly stood up straight, now looking around at the Leaf Ninja, not looking happy at all that they were there. "What are they doing here?" She asked darkly.

"They are here at my request, Alea." Tazuna said, though there was a hint of a smile on his face as he looked at the young girl from over his glasses. He knew very well how upset she was, and in truth, he was finding it amusing. "I've hired them to help us out with the renegades. I told you that I was going to. Or were you not listening to me. Again. You always find some way to daze off a little." He said chuckling.

Not amused, Alea balled up her fists and shook her head. She was not happy at all that these Leaf Ninja were sticking around just to help them. She seriously believed that they didn't need their help. "Tazuna, I didn't think you were actually being serious!" She folded her arms and shifted her weight to the side. "Why do we need Leaf Ninja?! I can handle them just fine!" She said, grimly.

"Apparently not. If there's ninja in with the renegades, then you need ninja to beat them." Neji said dryly, giving the complaining girl a very dark look for her remark. He narrowed his eyes right back at her when she did it to him. "And as I recall, you're not a ninja."

There was a very long silence as Alea glared right at the long haired Jounin and he glared back. The others just looked a little uneasy as they felt how hot the air was starting to get. They didn't actually know exactly how it was starting to get so warm but Gai frowned as he started to notice heat waves now starting to come off of Alea as she glared angrily at his former student. He could sense a strange Chakra energy starting trickle out from her and it was very hot. He wasn't too sure if Lee, Neji or Tenten could sense but it made him tilt his head to the side as he studied the girl.

"Please," Lee suddenly interrupted as he climbed to his feet rubbing his cheek but then he dropped his hand to his side and took a few steps towards Alea. He merely glanced at his teammate and shook his head before smiling at the girl again. "This is my fault. You are angry because I ran into you." He quickly dipped low into a bow at the waist. "It is my fault. I wasn't really looking where I was going and I do not blame you for hitting me. Please, forgive me. I hope I did not hurt you. Forgive me." He said in a gentle tone as he remained bowing to her.

There was a pause before Alea let out a sigh and the air around her cooled down again as she folded her arms and looked away. "I'm fine. I'll forgive you." She said grumpily.

Rock Lee smiled again as he straightened and held out his hand towards her. "Can we please start over? Hello. I am Rock Lee, Leaf Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. It is a pleasure to meet one such as you, Miss Alea." He said brightly, yet in a warm tone.

Alea glanced down at his hand but didn't take his hand as she turned slightly away from him, bending down and picking something up that she had dropped onto the ground after getting knocked down. To everyone's surprise, she had a very long line of big fish. So obviously, she had just gotten done fishing for them. "Charmed. I'm Alea." She said dryly to Lee before holding up the fish as she walked towards Tsunami. "I went and caught some more fish down in the bay, Tsunami. I hope these will do for dinner tomorrow night." She told her.

"Thank you, Alea." Tsunami said smiling as she took the fish from her and went over to the sink to clean them.

Then the girl turned and looked around at the other team members, still looking unimpressed with them. She met eyes with a glaring Tenten, who didn't seem to like the way that she was looking at them. She just shook her head before looking at Inari, who quickly stood up and went over to her, throwing his arms around her slender waist. And for the first time since she got there, she smiled as she hugged him right back. The Leaf Ninja realized that Tazuna wasn't kidding about how Inari was the only one that she fully trusted. "Hey, Inari. How was your practice today? Did you finally figure out that one move?"

That interested the Leaf Ninja, though Neji was more suspicious. They just watched her and Inari carefully as they interacted with one another. Inari just made a face and shook his head. "I got the first part. But I'm still having a little trouble with the stance that you showed me." The boy told her.

"You're teaching him how to fight?" Tenten asked raising her eyebrow.

Alea's face fell as she looked away from Inari and looked over at the Weapon Specialist. "Yeah. So what? Everyone has to know how to defend their selves in this type of world. Ninja won't always be there to protect kids like Inari. So you got a problem with me teaching him?" She asked grumpily.

Tenten shook her head but smirked at the other girl as she placed her hands onto her waist, watching her carefully. She knew very well that Neji was watching carefully too, while Rock Lee was frowning at them both. "No. I don't have a problem. I actually agree with you. I just find it funny how you said that you don't remember who you are, but you can remember that you know how to fight." She said smirking at her.

Not amused, Alea glared at her before shaking her head and looking down at Inari. "Inari, we'll start tomorrow. But right now," She shot Tenten a look, who didn't react to it. "I'm going to bed." She said darkly before ruffling the boy's hair and heading straight for the hall.

No one spoke for a long time before Rock Lee gave both Neji and Tenten a very serious look. He wasn't happy that they had both practically ganged up on Alea. He didn't understand why they acted like that but he didn't like it. "Neji! Tenten! What is wrong with you two? Why are you treating her like she's some kind of..." He was saying.

Neji turned his sharp white eyes onto his teammate and shook his head. He knew that it wasn't probably a good idea to start a little argument in front of Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami, seeing they were taking care of Alea. But he had to get Lee to see the reality about the girl he was crushing on right now. "Like an enemy, Lee? Face it! There's a very good chance that she is from an enemy village. I don't know if she's another ninja! But she's acting very suspicious and I know she's hiding things. She knows a lot more than she's letting everyone on about!" He glanced over at Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami, noting how they were frowning at him. "Please, forgive me. But we can't let our guard down, even if she's your friend. If she is an enemy ninja to our village, then..."

Inari now glared at him, shaking his head. He even stomped a foot like a child to shut him up. "And so what if she's a ninja?! She's a good person! She's treated everyone in this city with respect, even if she doesn't tell us who she is! And if she's hiding something, it's because she's trying to protect herself and everyone around her! The only thing that she told me that she remembers is that her best friend, her only friend, was killed protecting her from some weird ninja! So leave her alone! She's been hurt enough!" He shouted.

"Inari!" Tsunami scolded. "What did I tell you about shouting in the house and more or less, shouting at guests? Where are your manners, young man?"

The young boy sighed, still very angry but he was calming down at least a little. He lowered his head for a moment before looking at the Leaf Ninja rather coolly. "I wish Naruto and Gaara were here. At least they'd be nice to Alea and understand. So far, the only guy I like with you, Leaf Ninja, is the freak with the huge eyebrows." He said, pausing to notice that both Lee and Gai had huge eyebrows. "Uh...him." He pointed at Lee before turning and fleeing the room as fast as he could.

"Geez." Chuckled Gai, seeming to more amused than insulted. "Your friend, Alea, isn't the only one with a harsh tongue. Seems to me that Inari has his own wicked tongue." He told Tazuna and Tsunami.

Both of them shook their heads with sighs and looked apologetic at the Leaf Ninja. "Please, Gai. Don't judge Alea too harshly. But I have to agree with Inari in this case. Alea's one troubled girl. I've woken up to her crying in the night. She's gone through something terrible. If she remembers or not of who she is, she's only keeping it to herself because she's trying to protect herself from being hurt again." The old man told them. "Both Tsunami and I are trying our best to heal her heart. We've spent hours of talking to her, trying to get her to open up. She won't do it but she does it with Inari, probably because of Kaiza. She might've not cried on the outside but I could see her sorrow swimming in her eyes when Inari told her about his father."

There was a long silence as all four of the Leaf Ninja took in his words, though Neji still didn't look convinced. He just didn't like all of the secrecy. There was a red light flashing within his head and he knew it had to be Alea who was setting it off. What exactly was she hiding that could be so terrible to tell them? Tenten, of course, was going to go with him. Lee, on the other hand, felt the pull towards Alea, and not just because he wanted to date her. He knew that he just had to do something to help her. If she was in that bad of pain, he needed to help her. So with a determined look, he pushed himself to his feet and looked directly at Tazuna. "I still would like to become her friend." He announced. "A lady should never be in pain like she is! And," he paused to glance over at Neji. "We should never inflict pain on ladies. Even if they are from another village."

Neji and Tenten both rolled their eyes while Gai looked proudly at his protégé. He even gave his nod of approval. However, both Tazuna and Tsunami smiled thankfully for Lee's proclamation. "Well then, if you're really sure you want to try and become her friend, I'll warn you now. Alea is feisty as hell. She's going to be very rude to you for the first few tries. But you just have patience with her, and continue to show her kindness, she'll open up to you." Tazuna told him.

Lee just nodded, looking somewhat excited to hear that.

"Also, if you want to start trying to win her friendship, she gets up very early. Before dawn, actually. She's mostly nocturnal, staying up late but that girl seems to need only a little sleep." Tazuna continued. "She always take Inari out with her in the mornings as soon as the sun is up. I don't know what they do out in the forest but whatever it is, they have fun. Inari always comes back smiling and happy."

While Lee nodded in agreement, Neji narrowed his eyes as he looked off towards the window, thinking carefully. He didn't like this. He really thought Lee was going way over his head in this decision. He knew he was going to need to keep a very close eye on this Alea, just to make sure his idiot of a team mate didn't get hurt by her. Knowing Lee, he was going to.

Early morning, Lee woke to hearing the door shut with a soft click. He, like the other three of his team, had been sleeping in the living room on their sleeping cots. Of course, he hadn't been the only one to wake. He saw Neji sit up too and look towards the door. The long haired Jounin glanced over at his teammate and slowly shook his head as he laid back down. Lee climbed out of his cot and hurried to pull on his clothes. He knew it must have been Alea who was up. So he needed to hurry.

Once he was ready to go, he quietly went out the door, pausing when a hand fell onto his shoulder. He turned to look at Neji, who was shaking his head. "Don't, Lee. She's trouble." he whispered so quietly.

Shaking his head, Lee pulled away, giving his teammate a disappointed look. He knew very well that Neji didn't trust Alea. And in a way, he knew why. But he couldn't just stand there and let Alea be alone when she needed a friend. So he just reached over and gave his teammate's shoulder a light squeeze. "It's all right, Neji. I will be okay. Don't worry about me. And trust me. I know what I am doing. Alea needs a friend and I want to be that friend." He told him just as quietly before he turned and hurried away. Neji watched him go but he could only sigh and shake his head. He sure hoped Lee knew what he was getting himself into.

Lee rushed through the trees, trying to see if he could find Alea. He was cursing himself for not being able to detect Chakra like the others. It was times like this he needed it. He frowned as he kept on going, looking around carefully as he ran through the trees. But after a while, he slowed down to listen hard for any sounds. He must have stood there for a long moment before he heard something to the right. Smiling, he turned and hurried that way.

It wasn't long before he finally found something. Something he probably shouldn't have.

As soon as he broke through the clearing, Lee came to a sudden halt, looking around with surprise. He had just came right into a small camping area by a river. And it was clear that these were not the people of this Land. There were at least twenty men climbing out of their tents but they all stopped when they realized they had an intruder. They were deeply tanned people, yet they didn't look very nice. They actually were now giving the Ninja a dark look for his intrusion. Each one of them had nasty looking weapons. Lee knew instantly that these men must have been some of the renegades. Frowning, he straightened and folded one arm behind his back and held up the other, in his usual stance as if challenging them.

"What the hell is this?" One man growled as he stood up and looked threateningly at Lee.

The other men began to circle around Lee, who just kept his head up and facing forward. The Leaf Ninja, of course, showed no fear at all of them. Why should he? He was a Ninja, they were not. "I take it you are the renegades who have been threatening the Wave City." He announced, in his way.

Some of the men snorted as they began fingering their weapons and sneering at the Leaf Ninja. They seemed to figure out that this kid was a weird one. "Yeah." Said one before he snorted deeply and then spat a loogie on the ground. The very action made Lee's face twist a little in disgust as he stepped back away from that one. "Yeah. That'd be us. So what of it, you little runt? You came to join us? If so, you'll have to wait till Zori and Waraji gets back. They're the ones who approve of new comers." He told Lee.

The Leaf Ninja returned his head up straight and gave that one a very dry stare as he held his hand towards him, palm up, almost challenging. "Zori and Waraji? I suppose they are the ones who are in charge, then." he shook his head as he dipped his head down only a little. "I am not here to join you. I am here to stop you from destroying Wave City. I must ask you all to leave and return to where you came from before I have to hurt you." He warned them.

Of course, the whole lot of men burst into cruel laughter as if they thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard. They all just threw their heads back and laughed at Lee, loud and obnoxious. Lee didn't pay them no mind. He just kept looking serious as ever as he watched them. The men laughed for a long time before the one man wiped tears from his eyes and waved a hand towards the ninja. "As funny as the ugly kid is, kill him. He's such a nuisance." He told the other men. The man just nodded before they began rushing forward with hands raised.

"Very well. You leave me no choice." Lee said with a low sigh before he suddenly began dodging the weapons flying at him. His movement only became a blur to the renegades, which made them hesitate with surprise. And that was when the young Ninja began to strike. A few of the renegades went flying when Lee struck each of them with his fist and feet, some landing hard on the ground or landing in the water. Others just looked on with shock as they watched this kid move too fast before stopping and giving them a look of warning. "Do you wish to stop now?"

"You're a ninja, aren't you?" The one man asked with a growl.

Lee stood up in his fighting stance, his arm folding behind his back again but the other pointed like a sword towards him. "I am. I am Rock Lee, The Hidden Leaf Village's Handsome devil! And I will stop you from hurting innocent people. Now, please leave or I will continue to have to hurt all of you. And I would not like to do that." He warned them once again.

But the man's head dipped down lower before he reached into his vest and pulled out a whistle. He didn't say anything as he just stuck the whistle into his mouth and gave a loud shrill blow, which echoed all around Lee. The shrill sound just made him wince a little but he watched carefully of what was about to happen. Movement caught his attention and he turned his head to see three large men now making their way into the clearing, looking right at the Leaf Ninja. They then glanced over at the man, who pointed at Lee again. "Kill him. He's a Leaf Ninja. And make it quick." He ordered them.

The three men nodded before rushing at Lee, who immediately snapped into his fighting stance and readied himself. When they began swinging their meaty fists at him, he began dodging them before he launched his own attacks at them. However, something happened that he had not expected. As soon as he hit one of the men, Lee grimaced with a little pain. He felt as if he had just punched something very soft but it also felt as if something had just flowed right through his arm and right out. Not to mention, he felt as if his arm had just died right at that second, as if it had been punched really hard. He winced before kicking away from the large man, back flipping when the other two tried to punch him, only leaving deep holes in the ground in their wake as they tried to hit the Leaf Ninja. Lee landed in a crouch, yet grabbed a hold of his arm, holding it in pain. It felt numb. "What..." He murmured in bewilderment.

The man who had ordered his death just laughed as he placed his fists onto his waist. "Do you honestly think that you're the only ninja around these parts? These are the Chakra Brothers. Of course, I don't expect you to have heard of them. They don't do enough to build up a reputation. Their youngest brother has though. He was working with one of the Legendary Sanin of History, Orochimaru. That is until he went and got himself killed." He explained before lifting his chin higher and smirking. "What they do is eat Chakra by touch. Your Taijutsu doesn't do very much against them. Every time you hit Jirati, he'll immediately absorb your Chakra and life force. And every time you hit him, your body will go numb for several minutes. Call 'em an electric fence, if you want. You touch an electric line, you can zap all feeling and usage in your arm."

"This one doesn't have very much Chakra though." The large man, Jirati that Lee had punched first spoke, his voice incredibly deep. "It feels like can't use Chakra."

Lee gritted his teeth, yet he knew that this was going to present a big problem. It was true he couldn't use Chakra. He had a little, yes. But that was enough to use his Taijutsu. But...if what the man said was true, his Taijutsu was going to do no good for him. Every hit he did this one, he was going to just kill his arms and legs, rendering him defenseless. His eyes flickered over to the other two. But what about the other two? Did they do that too?

As if they read his mind, the three large men all grinned as they glanced at one another before one stepped forward. While all three looked almost alike, big and tall, not to mention a little fat, they all had different colors of hair. One had deep red hair. The second had dark brown. And the third had golden yellow hair. It had been the blonde that sucked up Lee's power in his arm and the brunette who moved forward. Each of them wore the same dark brown outfits; brown trousers and brown muscle shirts, showing off their large muscles and fat. It was strange though to Lee. He felt as if he had seen these men before. At least someone who looked like them. They looked strangely like one of the Sound Four's member. The one who had once been called Jirobo, who had caused Choji Akimichi to nearly die once trying to defeat him.

The brunette brother grinned as he thundered closer before snapped his hands together, forming a hand sign. The sign of tiger. That wasn't a good sign at all, Lee realized. Especially when the air began to feel thick all around him. The Leaf Ninja felt his air started to feel heavy and he began to feel drained. It was as if gravity was starting to push him right down the ground. And that was clearly the idea because not only did he feel as if he was been pressed to the ground, he felt it harder to breath.

"Our brother, Jirai is an air element user, Leaf Ninja." The golden haired brother said sneering at him. "He can make the air around you so thick and dense that it'll be harder for you to breath. He can suffocate you with pulling the air away from you." He informed him. "He can also absorb your Chakra right out of the air. So not only will you lose your oxygen, you will lose your life force."

Lee felt his breathing becoming harder to catch. He felt as if he was now locked in an airtight area and there was no oxygen. This wasn't good at all. He couldn't breath. Taking the deepest breath he could catch, he held it before fighting his body to standing up and trying to stand to his full height. He had to stop the brunette before it grew too late. If he ran out of breath now, he was good as dead. 'I can't...go...down like...this.' He thought as he fought to hold his breath and not cause his lungs to explode.

"If you like that one, you'll love mine. My name is Jiro, the second Eldest brother under Jirati." The red head brother now said as he grinned, moving forward. He snapped his hands together into another sign, different from his brothers. This one was the sign of an dragon. His eyes flickered over to the water, which began to bubble and rise right out of the river.

At first, it seemed to be difficult to rise the water but then the red head thrust his hand towards Lee, seeming to control the water to quickly move towards him. The water then began to swirl around the Leaf Ninja and trap him within. This was something similar to the Akatsuki member, Kisame's attack, the Water Prison. But it was harsher. He felt as if the water was now stabbing into every pore he had on his skin, not drilling for Chakra. 'Urg!' Lee gasped within his head. It didn't feel nice at all.

Suddenly, a hot wave shot right over the entire clearing, making the water starting to steam and evaporate a little before fire came speeding right through the trees, not even burning the vegetation at all. It only left trails of smoke as the flames struck the water bubble surrounding Lee, causing the connection to break. The three brothers spun around with alarm, as well as the other renegades. So obviously they didn't know who this was. But at least Lee was freed. And as soon as he was down on one knee and free from the Chakra attacks, the flames only swirled around him, not close enough to burn him. Lee looked around with surprise only to see Alea step right out from behind the trees, glaring towards the Chakra Brothers. Flames were swirling from behind her almost like tails, yet they spread out like wings. She looked more like a fiery angel stepping out to avenge the pain that these men were causing Lee.

"YOU!" The man with the whistle yelped as he pointed at her.

Alea gave them all a cold look before glancing side wards at Lee, giving him a look of annoyance. She didn't look impressed with him at all. "Geez," She hissed between her teeth. "And here I thought that all of you Leaf Ninja were mighty." She shrugged before letting the flames lick at Lee, who flinched away from them afraid to be burned. But he was surprised when it didn't burn him at all. Instead he felt warmth now entering him. He was surprise to feel that some of his strength was starting to be returned to him. "All well. I guess it's the cat to rescue the so called beast." Alea added before she turned her eyes back onto the men. "Stay close to the flames. They'll push back these idiot's little Chakra feasting." She told him before she smirked coldly at the renegades. Without any warning at all, she launched forward with flames now shooting forward like arms and she seemed to merge with them.

Lee hesitated only for a moment before he was quickly on his feet and running with the flames surrounding him. He rushed towards the Chakra brothers with Alea before launching a fist forward at the air using brother. He figured it was best to start with that one, seeing that air could kill flames, as did water. He knew he'd have to act quickly to defeating the two before they could use their elements against Alea, seeing she was a fire user.

It was funny how Alea was using her power though. As Lee launched his fist right into the brother, Jirai's face. To his satisfaction, it was effective. He then kicked out hard, nailing him the chest and sending him flying backwards into the oldest brother, Jirati, the one who absorbed Chakra by touch. It also seemed to Lee that Jirati's Chakra absorption also worked against his brothers, because Jirai yelped before dropping to the ground, unable to move for a few minutes. Growling, Jirati glared at Lee, who landed a hard hit right into Jiro's face, sending him back only to get kicked hard from behind by the girl, sending him sailing into the air. "Damn you both!" He yelled before rushing forward and grabbing Lee's arm and her leg.

Feeling the numbing effect, Lee grimaced as he tried to pull away but Jirati had a tight grip on his arm and he felt his entire left side was starting to go numb, seeing that it was that arm that the Chakra brother was grabbing. Alea, only the other hand, hissed like an angry cat, baring rather sharp canines at him before she curled up into a ball until she sank those sharp teeth into Jirati's thick arm.

"Ow!" Jirati yelled before dropping her, which she twisted herself to land on her hands and knees. He also had no choice but to let Lee go, who held his numb arm but lashed out with a sharp kick up into his neck.

There was a loud snap as Jirati's head turned sharply and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. It was just became clear to Lee that he had just snapped the Chakra brother's neck. He blinked surprise of his own doing as he tried to straighten himself only to wince as his left leg gave out from under him. He fell down onto his numb side, wincing in a little pain and embarrassment. He glanced up at Alea as she hopped up into a crouch, looking right back at him before spinning around as the other renegades began to rush forward. Narrowing her eyes, she stood up quickly just as flames seemed to shoot right out from under her feet and began rising higher and waving at the renegades. Even to Lee, she looked almost demonic. Especially when her black hair began to shift to a violet color and her eyes' pupils turned into slits. "Leave now or I will see to it that you burn!" Alea hissed angrily.

Terrified, the renegades to scamper back with shouts of shock. Even the remaining two Chakra brothers looked stunned. They quickly turned and ran away as fast as they could into the trees and out of sight. They looked back but didn't stop. Not even the two Chakra brothers, Jiro and Jirai, whose brother lied dead next to Rock Lee.

After a long moment of letting flames nearly consume her, Alea finally closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. With her sigh, it seemed to blow the flames right out like a candle. It surprised Lee to see that nothing was burnt. No trees were charred. There was still grass under their feet. And even there was no scorch marks on his clothes or Alea's. He just stared up at Alea with wonder and awe. He couldn't believe the power she possessed. It was almost un-natural. But he still was amazed by her. Alea reopened her eyes and then looked down at him, her nose crinkling and she folded her arms, shifting her weight. "What are you doing out here, anyway? Were you following me?" She growled lowly.

Lee blinked a few times before he smiled sheepishly as he tried to sit up, only to wince at how dead his left side felt. "Ow." He groaned.

For the first time, Alea smiled and shook her head, though it wasn't an entire friendly smile. She just moved forward and bent down beside Lee, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder. "Jirati's power is like a jelly fish's touch. You touch the tentacles of one, it numbs you and renders you motionless. I've seen him use that attack several times now." She told him as she began rubbing his arm, bringing feeling back. It actually made Lee's body tingle at her touch, making his cheeks heat up. She saw it though and gave him a dry stare. "Don't get any ideas, weirdo. I am not going to drag your sorry butt back to Tazuna's. You'll walk on your own." She told him darkly.

"It's amazing." Lee found himself say, making her blink at him. "That power you possess."

Alea looked away, her eyes looking rather forlorn. She didn't look too happy that he had actually been paying attention to her using her flames. She should have known that he would. "Don't tell your friend about it. He doesn't trust me as it is." She murmured to him.

"Oh, Neji? He's..." Lee paused to think of a better way to put his teammate. "Well..."

Alea shook her head as she continued to rub the feeling back into Lee's shoulder but then dropped her hands as she rest one arm on her knee and kept her eyes adverted away. "He's a Hyuuga. He knows what village I'm from. I saw him looking at my hip pouch. He's probably used the Bakyugan to see my forehead protector in it." She muttered.

Lee blinked and looked at her in surprise. "So..."

"Look." Alea interrupted sharply looking at him and standing up, folding her arms over her chest. "If I choose to keep my identity a secret from you, that's my right. Inari was telling you the truth. I'm protecting myself. I am a ninja, or at least I was. But I'm not anymore. I'm trying to escape from that world. If I keep running into ninja, then my enemies are going to find me. And I'd rather them not to. I lost my best friend because of Ninja. And my village was probably destroyed. So, just stay away from me from now on. I don't like the Leaf Village because our villages may be allies, but we do not like each other. As for Hyuuga, well, he's got a good reason for hating me." She told him before she turned and walked away. "You can walk now. Be lucky I'm in a good mood today. Other wise, I'd leave you here."

And then she was gone.

Lee just watched her go with surprise but slowly his face fell into a look of understanding. He was starting to realize something about her. She knew who she really was. She was a ninja from another Village, which proved why she was so hostile against them. And she knew about Neji's clan. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. Frowning, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around the clearing, pausing to glance at Jirati's body. He let out a sigh before bowing to the corpse. "Forgive me. It was not my intention for killing you. I had only wanted to stun you or make you change your mind about harming the Wave City. You were a mighty opponent. Strong and powerful. I show you great respect. Please, rest well in the next life. And if you can, whisper to your brothers and make them leave now before they end up dead too." He spoke out loud, even though his words couldn't reach Jirati. Then he too turned and hurried back towards Tazuna's.

Without even realizing that Alea was still hiding behind the tree, listening to his words. She waited for a moment till Lee was completely gone before she appeared right out from behind the tree, looking after him with surprise. In truth, she felt herself fall into a little state of awe. 'Well, he's got more honor than I realized. He even respects his enemies after they died.' She thought before her face softened a little. 'Maybe all Leaf Ninja aren't that bad.'


	7. Chapter Six

Never in Gaara's life had he been so embarrassed.

After the incident in the Hot Springs, and trying very hard to avoid Naruto's questioning, he quickly left the Hot Springs back to his room to change into his clothes. He ignored a few people who stared after him with surprise, as he was only wearing his towel around his waist. His pale skin was still slightly pink from blushing so much. As soon as he got back to his room, he slammed the door shut and started getting dressed, still cursing a laughing Shukaku within his head. If he wasn't so close to the demon now, he swore he'd find a way to kill him. But it was too late now. They were friends, in their own ways.

Not too long after he had gotten dressed and started meditating to calm his nerves, Gaara felt a familiar Chakra approaching his door, which made him sigh, more like groan. He really didn't want to talk to her right now. Not with him still in his embarrassed state. So he just kept quiet.

"Gaara, I know you're in there. Let me come in." Sakura's voice called through the wood of the door.

With a long drawing sigh, the young Kazekage closed his eyes to keep himself calm while he summoned sand out to unlock the door he had locked and slid it open for his beautiful girlfriend. He didn't open his eyes as he felt her come into the room and then let the sand close the door after her. He just kept his eyes closed and he tried to meditate. He could almost feel Sakura's smile though as she moved closer to him. He tensed as she came close enough to bend down next to him and let her knee brush against his. "Gaara, what just happened in there?" She asked, sounding a little amused.

There came a low sigh before Gaara opened his eyes and looked wearily into hers, seeing that she was smirking. She seemed to have found some amusement in the entire situation. It just made him scowl a little. "I don't find this very funny, Sakura. Shukaku was mocking me and now you are." He grumbled.

Sakura laughed but shook her head as she turned slightly and let her body plop down right next to his. She let out a little sigh before resting her head onto his shoulder, which he watched her. She just kept looking right into his sea-foam colored eyes, while resting her hand onto his forearm. "Gaara, I'm not mocking you. I'm just teasing you." She laughed a little before having to reach up and lightly grabbing his chin to make him look back at her when he tried to look away. "Look, Gaara. Ignore Shukaku. He's just being...well, himself. He always teases you. I'm just glad that..." She paused to think of a way to put it. "Well...I'm just glad that you want me that much. I didn't know if you...aaaahhhh!" She gasped.

At her words, a devilish smile curled on Gaara's face before he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her halfway onto his lap, looking at her in his sly way. "Want you? Of course I want you, Sakura. You are so beautiful, outside and in." He then let out a low sigh. "I'm just trying to be careful. If I was to ever hurt you, I would never forgive myself." He told her in a soft tone. He pressed his forehead against hers, which made her smile.

"Gaara," Sakura began as she cupped the side of his face, looking into his eyes. "You will never hurt me. I know you won't. I trust you."

Gaara slowly shook his head as he looked deeply into her eyes, even though they were only inches away from his own. "I know you do. But I do not trust myself. Or Shukaku. Even if we are now at peace with one another, and even considering each other friends, I will never fully trust him with you. If he was ever to take over my body to take advantage over you..." He shuddered at the idea. "He wants you too. He wants me to take you. I can't do that. Not unless you are ready. And I don't think it's the right time." He told her quietly.

There was a pause as Sakura took his words into thought but nodded as she sat up a little on his lap but still touched his face with her hand. "I know you will never let him. He'll have to deal with it. It's your body he's living in. He will have to deal with it on your terms. If he can't, then let him whine."

Gaara grimaced at the sound of that. "You're just saying that because you don't have to listen to him." He grumbled.

Sakura laughed but shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing the Kanji symbol on his forehead as she let one of her hands run through his wild red hair. "Don't be such a baby." She told him before growing stiff when she saw the devilish look on her boyfriend's face. "What?"

"So, he'll have to deal with it on my terms, hmm?" The young Kazekage spoke as he tightened his hold around her waist before raising his hands until they met Sakura's wrists. He moved too quickly for her to register what he had in mind. But when she found herself pinned under him and her wild red haired boyfriend straddling her, she grew very stiff. "So if I wanted you now..."

"Ga-Gaara!" Sakura yelped while her face turned bright red. She even struggled a little which made him chuckle. She scowled at him for laughing like that. It creeped her out a little but she felt a little excited. "Stop it." She grumbled at him.

Chuckling, Gaara kissed her gently as he loosened his grip around her wrists and pulled slightly away, though still straddling her waist. "I'm just teasing you." He told her, though they both knew very well he was mocking her a little. He could only chuckle again as he moved get off of her.

Only to get thrown onto his back and it was her turn to straddle him, much to his surprise. Sakura had him pinned down under her and she had his wrists trapped beside his head. She was smirking at him like a little vixen she seemed to be. She just moved a little closer to him, giving him a sensual look. "Don't be mocking me, Gaara. You know better than to do that. Keep it up and I'll punish you." She said in a husky whisper before giggling while he looked wide eyed up at her with surprise. But slowly he slyly smirked right back at her.

'Boy, you are SO whipped!' Shukaku bellowed with laughter within the Kazekage's head.

The moment was now over, thanks to a certain sand demon. Groaning with disgust, Gaara shook his head when his beautiful girlfriend frowned at him. "Shukaku. He just had to open his mouth." He smiled when Sakura giggled but climbed off of him. They both just sat there, leaning against his bed frame while laughing a little about the demon within Gaara. They sat there for a little while, arm in arm and enjoying the little peace they had. They both knew very well that soon enough Naruto was going to...

"Hey! Gaara! Hey! You in there?! We're going to go eat dinner! Wanna come?! Do you know where Sakura-chan is?! Or are you trying to avoid her because you're having sexual frustrations...!" Naruto was yelling from outside in the hall.

The door slammed open and the loud and obnoxious best friend found himself being glared at by both of his teammates and friends. They both did not look amused. Not amused at all. Laughing nervously, Naruto waved innocently at them before turning and trying to bolt away. He knew he was in trouble. He didn't get too far because Sakura caught him by the collar and clubbed him over the head.

Throughout the entire night, Gaara had sat next to his window and stared out into the night, wondering what was in store for them. He felt somewhat better than he had in the Hot Springs. Shukaku had been keeping his mouth shut the entire night. As for Naruto, to avoid any more bumps on the head from Sakura, he kept his mouth shut about teasing Gaara. It didn't help too much that a few people were whispering about the young Kazekage but he did his best to ignore them. After that night's excitement wore off, he found himself able to relax for a little.

However, his mind was still on one thing. He was worried about what would happen if they did find Sasuke and brought him back. True, he wanted his comrade back, but it was the fact that Sakura once was in love with Sasuke. What would happen if they found him and got him back? Would he try and take Sakura from him? And did Sakura still want Gaara? Those questions haunted Gaara throughout the night. He eventually used his Sand teleportation to get into Sakura's room and stood over her while she slept. He watched her most of the night, wondering how in the world would he ever live if he lost her. It brought a dull ache within his chest, something he was very familiar with. He reached up and placed his hand over his heart, clutching at the fabric. 'Please don't ever go back to Sasuke, Sakura. Stay mine.' he thought almost pleadingly. He was just glad that Shukaku kept his mouth shut.

Early morning, the young Kazekage had spotted their new teammate, Sai sneaking out of the room he was sharing with Naruto and Yamato. He could only frown as he watched him before he too left his room, though went straight to the roof to watch the ninja in black carefully. He wondered exactly what Sai was up to. Was he sending off a message to his master about the progress so far or of what was going on between the teammates? Maybe he was reporting to Danzo about Gaara joining the mission. Gaara almost smirked coldly to think of what Danzo's reaction was going to be for his interference.

However, Gaara was only too surprise that none of his suspicions was right. He was surprised to find that Sai was not sending off secret messages to Danzo.

Sai was drawing a picture in a sketchbook.

This was one thing that Gaara had not even imagined that Sai would even do. He had always believed Sai was hiding things but being an artist like this was not one of them. He hadn't even pictured this Root ANBU to be an Artist. As far as he could tell, the ninja in black didn't have any emotions at all. But here he was, drawing a picture with charcoal. The picture, itself, was amazing. It was full of dark and light colors, swirling around each other into two very large swirls. It was actually...rather beautiful in a sense. Just by staring at it, Gaara felt as if there were emotions coming right out of the paper. Staring at the picture, the young Kazekage felt sadness, anger, happiness, excitement, almost all kinds of emotions.

'For someone who doesn't seem to have emotions, he's sure letting them off.' Shukaku remarked.

Gaara could only nod in agreement. He had to admit it, but Sai was letting more emotions than he actually realized himself. He probably didn't even know that he was. The young Kazekage knew very well that art was a way of expressing your emotions. And it seemed to him that Sai was an artist as well as a ninja. "Interesting. A ninja who uses art. I'll have to keep my eye on him from now on." He murmured to himself.

His attention perked up a little more when he saw Sakura walking out of the building and moving towards the ninja in black. This only made him a little tense as he watched her go over to speak to him. He didn't like that too much. But he wouldn't say anything. For now.

"Kazekage-sama."

Gaara's head tilted a little but he didn't look at the ninja approaching him. He knew very well that Yamato had been watching him for a moment. He had sensed him even before he arrived on the roof. "Yamato-taichou, I would prefer it if you called me by my name. On this mission, we are equals." He said quietly.

Yamato smiled a little as he moved to stand right next to the young red head. "Forgive me...Gaara. It just makes me a little uncomfortable to be called a Kage by his name and not his title. I'm not really accustomed to it." He told him, before glancing down at Sai and Sakura as they held a small conversation with each other. They were both quiet for a minute but then the ANBU captain turned his attention back onto Gaara. "Gaara, you are aware that someone has been following us, correct?"

"Yes." Gaara said very quietly, his head dipping low but he held a very serious look on his face. "I can't figure out who it is, but I have my suspicions. It could be someone else from Danzo's little department, probably coming to give Sai orders about me."

"But?" Yamato asked.

The young Kazekage turned his head a little to look at the ANBU captain. "But," He added himself. "The one who is following us seems to be an amateur about following us. They have masked their Chakra, yes, which is clever enough. That way we can't detect who it is. But they're not covering their tracks up very well. They are merely watching us. Observing our moves. It could only be that Danzo wants to see what we're up to and what we know. So I'm not entirely worried." He paused for a second. "Or, it could be that he wants to know who Sasori's spy is. Just like us."

Yamato slowly nodded in agreement but folded his arms across his chest. "So, we don't do anything for now, eh? Very well. It's your call. We'll keep a watch out for this spy." He glanced down at the scene below, only to see that Naruto was now with Sakura and Sai, and eventually not getting along with the pale ninja once again. He looked furious and was yelling at him.

And before it could grow into an even more serious fight, both Gaara and Yamato went to join them. It stopped the fight before it actually began.

Sai merely glanced at the two before starting to gather his things. Of course, Gaara was only mildly surprised to see Sakura move forward to help him. He didn't' say anything but watched through narrowed his eyes. He didn't approve her helping the Root ANBU but he knew better than to say anything about it. His eyes, however, caught sight of a small book that Sakura just picked up, looking at it with interest. It had a picture of a boy on the front, but it was clearly a drawing. "Oh! This isn't printed. Did you draw it yourself?" The pink haired girl asked, offering it to its owner.

"Yeah." Sai said quietly as he took the book from her.

Sakura smiled as she dropped her hand, still looking at the ninja in black. "Oh, really. Then it's a picture book." She kept on smiling at Sai, who was putting things away into his bag before standing up. "Hey, would you mind showing it to me sometime?" She asked.

Gaara frowned as he folded his arms but glanced at Sai.

Sai, on the other hand, shook his head as he looked at the small book in his hand. There was something about that look on his face though. Something that just made Gaara frown. For a brief second, he actually saw an emotion flicker across his eyes. Sorrow. "Actually, I would." The ninja artist said quietly. "It's not finished yet. I also make a point of not letting others touch this." His words surprised Sakura and Naruto a little but made Gaara's frown deepen. "Because it's my older brother's."

Now that did surprise all three, Gaara, Naruto and Sakura. They looked at him with curiosity but no one questioned him anymore. Instead, they decided to move on.

The five ninja walked through the forest path in silence, though Gaara was watching Sai from the corner of his eye. He was very curious about this ninja now. After meeting him, he hadn't been the least interested in him but now, after seeing that he was a little bit of an artist, the young Kazekage wanted to know what his angle was. He knew that he was one of Danzo's lackeys but...Sai seemed kind of different. It was still a little curious of how much he looked like Sasuke. He wondered if there was a chance that they were related without even knowing about each other. After all, he spent most of his life without even knowing about Temari and Kankuro until he met them. Maybe Sai's history was similar to his own. The thought of it just made Gaara's eyes narrow thoughtfully. Maybe...Danzo had done something that no one knew about. Something that dealt with Sai. It could have been a possibility.

Nearly the entire day he pondered that idea and finally night fell.

Tired and hungry, with exception of Gaara, Team Seven decided to stop for the night. Yamato used his wood manipulative power to create a large wooden building for them to stay in. It still amazed the young Kazekage that the new Captain for the team had that kind of power. He wondered if there was a possibility that Yamato was related to the First Hokage then. At that thought, he sweat dropped. He was sure doing a lot of wondering now.

"Everyone, come here for a minute." Yamato, however, said as soon as everyone had gotten settled.

Gaara was seated at one of the wooden windows, looking up at the moonlit sky with such a thoughtful look on his face. He knew he had been doing a lot of thinking lately and it seriously couldn't be helped. He was a little worried about the Sand Village but knew very well that Temari and Baki could handle it. He was also finding himself very worried about Quoi. He hoped his young apprentice was behaving Kankuro. But then again, he thought with a sweat drop, it was more than likely he was annoying the hell out of his older brother. So if he returned to Konoha Village only to find his young apprentice bruised and beat up, he wouldn't be surprised.

However, when Yamato started speaking, the young red head turned his gaze onto him, only to be respectful and listen to what he had to say.

"Sakura," Yamato began quietly, while staring at the wooden floor. "There's something I need you tell me."

Sakura glanced around the room at Gaara then to Naruto, who both frowned but watched carefully as she moved closer to Yamato who was sitting in the middle of the room. "What is it?" She asked curiously.

Yamato slowly shook his head as he turned his dark eyes upward and looked her right in the eye. "It's about Sasori of the Akatsuki." He dipped his head down a little. "I got Sasori's file from the Sand as a starter, thanks to our Lord Kazekage's brother, Kankuro." He merely glanced over at Gaara, who frowned but didn't say anything. But he looked right back at Sakura. "Tell me about him. His behavior, characteristics, and habits. Because you are the only one who has really seen Sasori and have interacted with him." He remarked.

"Why're you asking that?" Naruto asked frowning with confusion.

Yamato tilted his head to look at the blonde but he shook his head as he looked back at Sakura. "The spy for the Akatsuki in Orochimaru's ranks will probably be expecting Sasori when we show up at the Tenchi Bridge in two days. He'll probably see right through it, but I think it best if we have someone transform into Sasori and approach him."

Slowly Sai nodded in agreement, his whole being sitting up straighter. "Being a spy brings its fair share of risks, so he'll be most likely on his guard." He added his opinion.

Gaara glanced over at him but then folded his arms and dipped his head down as he turned his sea-foam colored eyes onto Yamato, who met his gaze. "Sai has a point. Sasori's spy will not be putting his guard down. Even if he is a spy for the Akatsuki, he might not trust them either. A spy for any side would trust only himself and himself alone." he said quietly. "And even if he does fall for our little trick with Sasori, we can't trust him either.

Slowly, Yamato agreed, his eyes narrowing a little in though. "I understand. And just in case this is a trap set by the Akatsuki, I will go alone onto the bridge to meet the spy. I want the rest of you to stand by and await for my instructions." He paused to turn his gaze back onto Gaara, almost uncertain if giving him orders was a good idea.

But Gaara nodded. "We'll do that then."

"Given that there was an Akatsuki spy in the Sand, Yuura," Sakura began, making Gaara look at her. He knew very well of who she was talking about. He had heard about the Akatsuki agent, Yuura from Baki. He remembered how right after he had recovered, Baki had explained to him of how the Akatsuki really found out about Gaara being back in the Sand Village. Yuura had been one of the Sand Ninja that Baki entrusted the secret of Gaara's return with and he had went to the Akatsuki, Zetsu to confirm it. Gaara had seen Baki angry before but after that little betrayal, the Sand Jounin had come unhinged with rage. He, himself, killed Yuura, Baki had. "And he, himself said it when he was about to die, I don't think Sasori was lying or trying to pull a trap. Besides," Sakura added while glancing over at Sasori. "I really think it was Sasori who saved Gaara's life."

The young red head had to look away from her and out the window. He still had yet to tell his friends that it hadn't been Sasori who saved his life from his own people. It had been Itachi Uchiha who spared his life. Not Sasori. Gaara felt a tinge of regret for not telling them the truth. But he really wanted to find out for himself of why Itachi saved him before he admitted it to anyone.

"Still that spy," Sai now spoke up, blankly. "He must be very skilled. To be able to spy Orochimaru for the Akatsuki and not get caught..."

Gaara found himself nodding in agreement. He had to admit it but Sai had a point. If this spy could transfer information over to the Akatsuki and not rouse Orochimaru's suspicions, he must have been very skillful indeed. He knew very well from being told by Jiraiya, himself that Orochimaru did not trust anyone so easily with information. So if this spy had any info on the serpentine ninja, Orochimaru must have trusted him. Or her.

'Oh...this just got good.' Shukaku suddenly remarked, almost grinning within Gaara's head.

It was like a light bulb had just turned on inside Gaara's head, for he felt a familiar Chakra signature starting to come close to where they were. Jerking his head towards the window, the Kazekage looked seriously out into the night. 'What is HE doing here?! Did something happen?!' He thought grimly.

"Right now, the real problem I've already told you the concrete plans for the mission up ahead." Yamato continued, not even noticing how serious Gaara was looking right now. He was still looking at the other three, who were watching him. No one noticed how still Gaara had just gotten and was staring out at the night with a serious look on his face. "Our objective is purely capture. Under no circumstances must the target get killed. Even if the results are in battle. If they are killed, we will have lost a valuable information source. This mission is more difficult than simply defeating the enemy. Given that it is a target mission, I will be the first to go in. And you all will stand as backup. The strategy is simple. First, I will restrain the target."

Gaara slowly stood up and fully faced the window, tilting his head to the side and staring out into the darkness, almost looking for any movement outside the wooden building. He gritted his teeth, looking serious and anxious at the same time. 'What are you doing here?' he thought grimly once again.

"Second, if I fail to restrain them and a battle situation arises, which is more than likely, you will prepare to fight. I will signal you just in case." Yamato continued. "And if we reach a situation as in part two, then we must fight via the Buddy system. When one person moves, the other will look after them. The principle of the system is mutual support." Yamato was trying to be careful of how they were going to do this. "Now, I'll decide on the buddies. First, Naruto and Sai. Second, Sakura and myself."

"But..." Sakura was saying frowning with concern. She was glancing over at Naruto and Sai. She knew very well that this wasn't a good idea putting them together. But then again, her eyes flickered over to Gaara, wondering why he hadn't been mentioned yet.

"Sakura, you are our only medical ninja. So that you are not injured yourself, I will be with you." Yamato told her.

Naruto, however, wasn't any happier than she was. He growled a little before jabbing a finger towards Sai, who put on his fake smile. "Yamato-taichou! Why the hell am I with...why can't I be with Gaara?!" He demanded.

Sighing with irritation, Yamato shook his head as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. But then he looked right at the blonde with that creepy look on his face again, making him cringe. "Naruto, I know you don't want to do this but this is the only way. I would rather not depending on the one person who is the strongest out of all of us and could capture the spy easily." He merely glanced over at Gaara's back, who didn't seem to be paying them any mind as he stared out the window. "With the Lord Kazekage's permission, I want him as the last resort. I would rather try to capture the spy without his help unless we really need it. A chance to prove ourselves, so to speak. Gaara, you don't mind, don't you?" he asked, being cautious.

Gaara heard him but didn't look at him. Instead, his eyes narrowed a little as he looked into the night air. "No. I don't mind. Naruto," He finally tilted his head around to look over his shoulder at his best friend. "Yamato-taichou has a point in this plan. Yes, I can capture the spy without any problems. But this is your mission. I'm merely a support. Just go with it, all right?"

"Tech," Naruto said grumpily but folded his arms and pouted a little. "Fine."

"Keeping all that in mind," Yamato continued acting as if nothing happened. "This isn't exactly normal, but...tomorrow, we'll spend a day on a simulation for team playing. I know nothing about all of you other than what's in your files. I'd like to know about things like your fighting methods, battle skills, and array of Jutsu." He merely glanced over at Gaara again. "I know only a few things about the Lord Kazekage...Gaara," He added when Gaara gave low sigh of irritation at his title once again. "And I know how dangerous his sand techniques can be. But I know nothing about the rest of you." He remarked turning his dark eyes back onto the other three. "And through getting to know each other, smoothen up your teamwork. You might think I'm being too serious, but that's how I do things. So put your all into it."

Slowly, Naruto, Sakura and Sai nodded. They all didn't like it but they knew he had a point. The teamwork in Team Kakashi had slipped a little due to the fact that Sai was the newest team member other than the captain himself. So with hard swallow, Naruto knew he'd have to mash down his pride and go with it.

However, at his point, Gaara's attention sharply returned to outside and his eyes narrowed a little. He didn't like this but HE was nearly right outside the wooden shelter now. And at this point, even Sai's and Yamato's shot up, sensing the approach. Even Sakura had but Naruto looked confused when he saw everyone grow a little tense.

"Gaara!" came the shout.

"What the...?!" Naruto now yelped as he shot to his feet.

Gaara, however, simply turned and went straight to the door, opening it and stepping out into the night air. He knew very well that the others would soon follow. But his attention was directly on his older brother as he stumbled right out of the darkness, looking right at the red head.

"Kankuro!" Sakura and Naruto both yelped in surprise.

The Puppet Master was panting heavily from running so fast but he stumbled towards them, his dark eyes right on Gaara, who moved a few strides towards him. "Ga-Gaara...!" he gasped for air.

"Kankuro. What has happened? Is it Quoi? Did something happen to him?" Gaara asked seriously.

Kankuro tried to stand up straight but couldn't because it only made him breath harder and faster so he doubled over with his hands on his knees. But he nodded as his face darkened and looked straight into his younger brother's eyes. "Oh, you bet something happened to him! Or something's going to happen to him when I get my hands on that little brat!" He shook his head as he was finally able to stand up straight, fists clenched. "The little gaki went missing right after you left the Leaf Village! I had just taken him to that Iruka guy you asked me to talk to about watching him and then almost an hour in a half later, Iruka shows up covered in paint and glue, stating that Quoi dumped a bucket of it over his head. It took him forever to get the stupid bucket off his head because it was some pretty nasty glue that your brat used! He said that Quoi did it and then ran off, stating he wasn't going to let, and I quote, 'His Master Gaara get hurt!' The little gaki left the Leaf..."

"QUOI!" Gaara now barked angrily, his eyes very hard as he jerked around and looked directly into the darkness. He had finally sensed the new signature hovering in the bushes and recognized it finally. He couldn't believe this! So it had been Quoi who had been following them this entire time! He didn't understand how the kid managed it, but because of Kankuro's sudden appearance had spiked up the boy's surprise, causing him to lose concentration on masking his Chakra energy like Gaara had showed him during their training.

Sand shot out of Gaara's gourd, missing Naruto, who jumped as it shot past him and into the bushes. A second later, there was a yelp of surprise and a low thud as if something hit the ground before the sand returned into the clearing with a cringing young boy by the name of Chiquoi hanging upside down as he was pulled into view. "Oh...shit..." Quoi muttered, before attempting to smile innocently. "Uh...hi, Ma-Master Gaara...umm...I'm sorry?" He offered an apology.

"Oh, you are so dead." Kankuro said sourly as he folded his arms across his chest, though he was glancing at the enraged red head right next to him, who was glaring right at his young apprentice.


	8. Chapter Seven

"WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, QUOI?!" The very angry red haired Kazekage exclaimed as he stood over his apprentice inside the wooden shelter, who was cringing under him a little.

After the shock of Kankuro and Quoi's appearance wore off, everyone started glaring at the young apprentice for being there. This was serious, they all knew. Even Naruto saw the seriousness of the situation. They were lucky that they hadn't met Sasori's spy yet or their cover could have gotten blown. If they had went and saw Sasori's spy without noticing Quoi, there could have been a chance that everything would have fallen apart. Quoi could have, and probably would have ruined the entire plan. Luckily, Kankuro showed up before they met the spy and they caught the boy on time.

Still, Quoi was in a heap of trouble.

"Why didn't you stay in the Leaf Village, Quoi?!" Gaara yelled at his apprentice, pacing back and forth in front of him, yet looking like a very anxious and angry lion trapped within a cage. His eyes were slightly wide with anger and frustration but he was very concerned of how in the hell Quoi managed to hide his Chakra signature from him. He didn't look at the rest of his team as they stood far away from him and his apprentice but watched with serious looks on their faces as he questioned the boy. "I told you that you couldn't come! That you would be safe in the village and yet, here you are!"

Quoi flinched a little from Gaara's rage but kept his head down in shame. He couldn't find himself to look right up into his master's eyes or any where else. He could only stare down at the wooden floor below him. He knew that he had messed up, and big time. "I'm...I'm sorry, Master Gaara. I just..." He was saying, with shame.

"Quoi! You didn't think, that's what you did! Why didn't you just listen to me and stay in the village?!" Gaara demanded, now folding his arms over his chest and glaring at his apprentice.

Kankuro shook his head as he folded his arms and leaned against the wall, still eyeing Quoi with annoyance and irritation. "No kidding. If you would have listened, I could have gone on a date with one of the Leaf Kunoichi. Man, I swear, I could have gotten a date with that cute girl who hangs out with the weirdo with huge eyebrows and the Hyuuga stiff." He remarked. "But no, I had to chase after your scrawny little butt." He said dryly.

"Pfft." Sakura snorted as she gave Kankuro a nasty look. "Puh-lease, Kankuro. Tenten has a thing for Neji. Like she'd go out with a pervert like you. And don't call Lee a weirdo with huge eyebrows. At least he's got more manners than you."

Kankuro glared at her.

But Gaara shook his head as he continued to glare at his apprentice. "The point is," he said loudly interrupting the minor argument. He wanted to concentrate on the problem they were facing now. His young apprentice still didn't look at him but kept his head down. "You disobey my orders, Quoi. I told you to stay in the Leaf Village and you completely ignored me. Why did you disobey me?" he asked coolly.

Quoi let out a long sigh but slowly lift his head enough to look up into his master's eyes, though there was guilt and regret there. "I am so sorry, Master Gaara. It's just...I just wanted to watch you fight. I want to learn from you by watching you! It's just like what Ebisu-sama said! I can learn by watching you!"

"Not on this mission, Quoi!" Gaara said sharply. "This is an A rank mission and highly dangerous! It's even dangerous for ninja of our rank! And you are not a ninja! Coming after us is suicide for you! I cannot protect you and perform this mission, Quoi! This mission demands my full attention and now I won't be able to concentrate because you are here!" He yelled at him.

There was a pause between everyone, though Naruto was frowning as he watched his best friend yelling at his young apprentice. He knew that Gaara had a point of why Quoi shouldn't have come. This mission was dangerous for him. But seeing that grief stricken look on the boy's face, he didn't like it. He knew he should keep his mouth shut but he couldn't help it. "Come on, Gaara. Don't yell at him like that. I don't like it that he's..."

"Naruto, be quiet." Sakura said sternly, surprising the blonde. Her eyes had not even left Quoi while Gaara was lecturing him but her face was very stony like and her eyes very hard. She was glaring at Quoi just like Gaara and even looked just as strict. She knew very well that Naruto gave her a surprised and hurt look after she told him to shut up but she didn't look back at him. "Gaara has every right to yell at Quoi right now. He told Quoi to stay in the village where he was safe and his disobeyed his orders. He is Gaara's apprentice! He should have listened to him and now we're facing a serious problem. We have only a day left before we have to go meet Sasori's spy and we've been set back on it. Quoi, you should have not come after us. It was reckless!" She scolded him.

Quoi gave her an annoyed look but flinched a little when he saw that Gaara had not reprimanded her for adding onto the lecture. He saw that his master was actually agreeing with him. "I...I'm sorry. I just...I was scared, Master. I...I know I've done wrong by coming after you but I was scared of the other kids that your old sensei looked after. They were all giving me looks as if I didn't belong there. They knew I didn't. They were looking at me like an outsider and it scared me." he murmured.

No one spoke as they watched the young boy but Gaara's face softened only a little, but still remained a very stern teacher's face. He knew what looks that Quoi had gotten. Just by the sound of them they could only have been the same looks that he had gotten when he was a child in the Leaf Village. But still, he knew that Quoi had done something so serious. "Quoi, you shouldn't have come." He said strictly.

"I...I know. But I was so scared. Especially when that old man threatened me." Quoi murmured quietly.

That got everyone's attention. Gaara frowned seriously as he looked at his apprentice but slowly lowered his arms to his sides. He could feel the unease in Quoi but there was also a hint of fear in his eyes. Especially the sound of some old man threatening him. "Old man? What old man? What did he say to you?" He asked sternly.

Quoi shook his head as he looked right at Gaara, not even seeing how serious the situation really was. Especially with Sai's face even becoming very serious and his eyes narrowing. "I don't know who he was and I didn't see him very well. He was in the shadows of some tree while I was waiting for Iruka-sensei to get the class started. I was sitting in the back, minding my own business when he came up right behind me. He said that if I didn't leave now and go after you, he'd kill me, himself. He said that the mission you were sent on would probably end up killing even you too. I...I was scared for you, Master Gaara! I know you're strong enough to defend yourself but I...I just..." He was saying.

Frowning, Gaara's head dipped down a little before glancing over at Yamato. "I think it best if I had a word with Quoi alone. Kankuro, you best come with me though. This deals with you too." He stated before motioning to Quoi and Kankuro to follow. Yamato had only nodded before tilting his head towards Naruto, Sakura and Sai who watched as the young Kazekage, his brother and apprentice left that room and went into the next.

Once they were alone, Gaara made sure to put up a thick sand sphere around them so that no prying ears would hear. After it was up, he turned sharply towards Quoi and Kankuro, giving them both a look, which surprised the older brother. "Kankuro! Instead of checking out girls in the Village, you should have been watching Quoi! If you would have, this probably wouldn't have happened! Not to mention you would have seen who threatened him!" Gaara scolded his older brother before looking sharply at his apprentice. "Quoi! Under no circumstances, you should have left the Leaf Village! Even if someone threatened you! You should have gone straight to the Hokage or Kankuro and told them that someone threatened you! Not come after me! I told you I can't protect you on this mission and there's no way I can leave now to take you back! The spy we're suppose to meet is going to be at the bridge within the next day! And there's a possibility that he could be close enough to sense you! You're still not skilled enough in masking your Chakra!"

Quoi was taking a few deep breathes now, sounding as if he was going to start crying any minute. "I...I'm sorry, Master Gaara! I was scared!" he said breathing deeply to try and keep himself from crying.

Gaara took his own deep breath and held it as he continued to glare at Quoi but then he looked away as he let it out. He knew that it wasn't going to help yelling at Quoi now. So with a sigh, he shifted his weight and looked back at his apprentice. He had to decide what he was going to do about him. He knew very well that it wasn't safe for the kid to be out there. But...the thought of someone threatening him, that was another matter. "Quoi, tell me about the old man. What exactly did he say to you?" He asked, calmly.

There was a pause as Quoi took a few deep breaths but then wiped his eyes free from any tears. "I do-don't know what he looked like. He was behind a tree and all I could see was that he was wearing gray and black robes. I think he had some bandages around his head. And he said that if I didn't leave the Leaf Village now, he'd kill me and then send someone off to kill you if I didn't go warn you first. And he said that if I stayed in the Leaf Village, he would hunt me down himself! I would have ignored him but he threw a kunai at me! It almost hit me! He was being serious! And it scared the heck out of me!" he said shuddering. "And I knew Kankuro wouldn't listen to me! He never does!"

"That is not...!" Kankuro tried to protest.

But Gaara held up a hand to stop the interruption. He just kept his eyes on Quoi as he tried to think about what was just said. There was no doubt that the old man had to be Danzo. He must have found out about Gaara joining the team to retrieving Sasuke back and hadn't liked it. So who better to take out his anger on than the Kazekage's apprentice? And the young red head knew very well that if he sent Quoi back now, it'll be more than likely that Danzo would carry out his threat. He knew that Kankuro would do well in protecting the brat, but if Danzo really meant to kill the kid, he'd probably send out the rest of his Root ANBU to do it. And because Kankuro was only Chuunin, he would be no match for them. Not for all of the Root ANBU. And Gaara knew that he couldn't send Quoi back to the Sand Village. The Sand Ninja who held a grudge on the boy would try and kill him too. He needed to be there to make sure they stayed in line. Sighing with irritation, Gaara turned away from his apprentice and his brother.

'Looks like we're stuck with the brat.' Shukaku grumbled, himself.

Gaara let out a low sigh as he reached up and ran a hand through his already wild hair. He felt so frustrated but he knew that Shukaku had a point. He was stuck with Quoi and Kankuro. He knew he couldn't send them back now. It would be too dangerous. If Danzo was serious to killing Quoi just because of his involvement with the mission, which the young Kazekage knew he was, he would probably have Root ANBU out and patrolling the boundaries of the village to keep an eye out for the boy. 'Looks like I really don't have a choice.' He thought gravely. 'He has to stay.'

"Gaara, I can protect Quoi if he's serious. You know that." Kankuro spoke up, sounding very irritated.

Turning back, Gaara met his older brother's dark gaze but slowly shook his head. He let his eyes flicker over to his young apprentice then back at Kankuro. "I know, Kankuro. But if Danzo really does have a part in this, you won't be able to fight off his ANBU all at once. And it'll be more than likely that he's going to want to keep this hush-hush. Because you came after Quoi, he's probably ordered them to kill you too. I don't think Danzo expects me to even return to the Village because we might be going up against Orochimaru, himself. He is a Sanin, after all." He let out a sigh as he looked back at Quoi. "Quoi, you will stay by Kankuro's side at all times while you are with us. You will do exactly what I say and what he says. Fail to do that, and there will be a punishment." He then gave his apprentice a look of warning when he started smiling. "Quoi, you are in serious trouble. If I didn't care about you so much, I would take you right to the nearest village and leave you there, never coming back for you! I don't have need for ninja who disobeys my orders!"

Quoi winced a little but lowered his head in shame as he murmured. "Yes, Kazekage-sama. I'm sorry."

Sighing, Gaara shook his head as he moved a step closer to Quoi, getting his attention again. "Quoi, you have endangered yourself and this mission by coming after us but I understand why you did." He turned his cool gaze onto Kankuro, who was frowning. "Kankuro, you are to watch Quoi very closely and protect him from any harm. When Team Kakashi and I go to the bridge, you and Quoi will remain at a safe distance away from us. If anything happens to me on this mission..."

Kankuro just nodded as he glanced over at Quoi but then back. "I know. I get it, Gaara. I'll keep an eye on the little gaki. I just don't see why you're still putting up with the brat." he grumbled, though he winced when he saw Quoi lower his head sadly.

Gaara could only shake his head as he moved a little closer to his young apprentice and placed a hand onto his shoulder to make him look up at him. "You heard Naruto the other day, Kankuro." His words surprised both of them. "I care too much about him and he reminds me of myself when I was just a child. Quoi, don't disobey me again. Because the next time you do, I will send you to another village where you can be safe, yet you will cease to be my apprentice." he warned him before he steered him towards the door. Quoi could only nod as he let his master lead him back out into the other room with Kankuro behind.

"Gaara, what's the verdict?" Sakura asked as soon as they came out.

She, like the other three, had been waiting patiently for Gaara to finish lecturing the boy. But while he was, the four of them were trying to figure out what Gaara was going to do to his young apprentice as for punishment. Yamato had stayed quiet the entire time, looking thoughtfully out the window, yet had a look of discontent on his face. While Naruto stating that Gaara would probably just kick Quoi hard in the butt before sending him back to the Leaf Village.

Sai, on the other hand, stated that the young Kazekage had the very right to just kill the disobedient brat. That remark just made Naruto and Sakura glare at him while Yamato shook his head and held up a hand to intercept them from fighting again. But they were interrupted when Gaara, Kankuro and Quoi came back into the room. All four stood up and watched the red head carefully as he led his apprentice into the middle of the room. No one said a thing for a moment as they all looked at one another. But after Sakura finally spoke up, Gaara looked slowly around at them. "I can't send them back. Not now. We're too close to meeting Sasori's spy and there's a good chance that he might sense them if they move away." He said quietly before looking directly into Yamato's eyes, almost telling him that what he said wasn't exactly true. And Yamato seemed to have caught on because his eyes narrowed suspiciously and he frowned firmly but he slowly nodded, letting him know that he would speak to him later.

"This is foolish. You should kill the boy and be done with him. He disobeyed your orders to stay in the Leaf Village and he's endangering this mission." Sai said, disagreeing with Gaara's decision.

Both Sakura and Naruto shot the ninja in black a dark look while Gaara gave him a cool stare. The young Kazekage narrowed his eyes onto him, almost giving him a warning. But Kankuro folded his arms and gave the ninja a dark look for saying that. "Quoi's annoying and yeah, he's endangering your mission but if you ever threaten him again in front of me, pasty, I'll literately kick your ass. Got that?" The Puppet Master said coldly.

Naruto grinned and Sakura smirked, while Sai frowned at him.

"Kankuro." Gaara said quietly though inside he was smirking. He had to hand it to his older brother. He might get annoyed by his young apprentice almost all the time but he was pretty protective over the boy just like he was. So he didn't feel the need to worry about Quoi anymore.

The Puppet Master merely glanced at his brother but shook his head as he let out an impatient sigh and looked away before plopping a hand on top of Quoi's head and ruffling his head, who felt somewhat relieved that he stood up for him. "Yeah, yeah, Gaara. I know, I know. But the only one who gets to threaten the little brat is me. Who is this pasty guy anyway?" He remarked turning his eyes back onto Sai, who dipped his head lower.

"Sai." Gaara simply said. "He's Team Seven's new teammate. Just until we retrieve Sasuke." He then turned his attention onto Sai, giving him a look of warning again. "If you know what's good for you, you will not worry about Quoi. He will be Kankuro's responsibility and he won't interfere with the mission. Quoi knows what will happen if he does." he said, giving his apprentice a look who nodded quickly in agreement. He knew better than not to. "The reason why I can't send him back is for my own knowledge, and Yamato-taichou's. I'd appreciate it if no one asked me about either." With that said, he gave his best friend a stern look, which Naruto had been about to open his mouth to ask about why Quoi was staying. But the blonde snapped his mouth shut after getting that look.

"As long as he doesn't get in the way, it will be fine, Gaara." Yamato interrupted before anyone could say anything else. His arms folded across his chest before he looked around the room at the other three. "We have an early start tomorrow. I suggest we all get some rest." He told them.

Slowly, everyone nodded, not wanting to argue about it anymore. Sakura had glanced worriedly at Quoi before making her way over to Gaara, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her touch made his face soften as he looked at her, before giving her a light kiss as she returned it. Both of them said their good nights quietly before she left the room into the one that Yamato had created for her use. Naruto waved at Gaara, Kankuro and Quoi, nearly shouting his good night before he too was out of the room. Sai was lingering though, giving Quoi a serious look but seeing that he was being glared at by Kankuro, he chose not to say anything. He also left the room.

Gaara then turned his attention onto Kankuro, giving him an equally serious look that Sai had been giving his apprentice. "Stay close to him, Kankuro. Although I do accept Sai as a comrade, I do not trust him." He gave Quoi a stern look next. "Quoi, you are not to leave Kankuro's side at all. Do we have an understanding?" He asked, frowning at him.

"Yes, Master Gaara. Again, I'm sorry." Quoi told him before he went over to a corner where Kankuro began laying his puppet scrolls down and tried to make a sleeping space for the kid.

There was a very long silence as Gaara watched his student and brother for a moment before he turned his attention over onto Yamato as he moved closer and he, too, watched the boy. They didn't speak for a long time but then slowly Yamato turned his attention onto the young Kazekage. "Do you really think it's wise to let them stay with us, Gaara? Sai has a point. They are endangering this mission. Their very presence can cost us this mission." he said quietly.

Slowly Gaara drew out a long sigh but shook his head. "I know. But if I send them back they could be in danger. As far as I'm concerned, Quoi told me that an old man threatened his very life, and mine. And knowing that old man, he will kill him even if he has to kill Kankuro just to get to him. I've almost lost my brother once, I won't do it again. I will take full responsibility for them both. As it is, we might need Kankuro's help after all. He's a very skilled ninja, himself. And he has a sharp eye. If our new comrade is up to something, he'll catch it. And he can protect my student just fine. No danger should come to him." he explained very quietly.

Yamato let out a sigh but turned away. "I hope you're right. I don't want to see your student get hurt and have this cause a conflict between our villages. Even if you were raised in the Leaf Village, you're sole responsibility is for the Sand Village. You still have a duty to commit too. And if one of your own was hurt just because of someone from our village," he didn't really finish. He just sighed and walked away.

Gaara, however, narrowed his eyes, knowing that Yamato had a point. If Quoi got hurt, even if he was one of the least favorite people in the entire Sand Village, he could guarantee it that the Elders would have something to say about it. Letting out his own sign, once again, he went over to the window and looked up at the half quarter moon. 'I will make sure that nothing happens to Quoi or Kankuro. Nor will there be a conflict between the villages.' He thought to himself.

Early the next morning, the training to build up the new team work began.

At the crack of dawn, Team Seven and the two new arrivals got up for the day and began their training to work on their team work. It was mostly Yamato, Sakura, Naruto and Sai that was working together for team work though. Gaara didn't join in with them. Instead, he was concentrating on Quoi's punishment, much to Quoi's greatest disappointment. He had hoped that his master would have forgotten about punishing him, though he hadn't really counted on it. It was rare that Gaara forgot anything.

So while Naruto and Sai were attempting to fight with Yamato and Sakura, Gaara had Quoi working on some of his training, but in a somewhat harsh way. The boy was to concentrate on his chakra control while holding fifty pounds of water. Now, it might have not sounded too terrible to most, but it was pretty hard for a ten year old who had a hard time in the first place with Chakra. He could barely mask his Chakra as it was. As for the water, it was pretty heavy to him. Especially when Kankuro had decided to joke around and put two large stones in the buckets without anyone actually realizing it until Quoi fell over, dumping the water out all over the ground.

Sakura slugged Kankuro for Quoi for pulling that little prank, which he was still unconscious.

As the day slowly burned away, Sakura was allowed a break and went to join Gaara in watching Quoi trying to hold up the heavy buckets of water on his shoulders and concentrate on his Chakra. She frowned as she looked him over before looking at Gaara. "Gaara, don't you think that is being a little too harsh?" She asked raising an eyebrow at her red haired boyfriend.

Gaara merely glanced at her but then turned his eyes back onto Quoi, keeping his arms folded over his chest. "We live in a harsh world, Sakura. Even if we like it or not. This punishment is easy for Quoi, so far. He has to learn." He said quietly.

Sakura kept her eyes on Gaara but then she faintly smiled and nudged him. "You're taking it easy on him, aren't you?" She teased and when he looked away, she laughed a little. Smiling, she moved a little closer to Quoi. "Gaara, why don't I help out a little? I've finished training with the guys. All Naruto and Sai are doing is trying to beat up on Yamato-taichou. You should have seen them. Naruto and Sai were somewhat working together. They managed to attempt the Rasengan, that's for sure." She turned around and gave the red head a pleading smile. "Come on. Let me help out a little." She told him, sticking out her bottom lip.

The Kazekage could only smile a little at her before he let out a low sigh. 'Shukaku's right. I am whipped.' He thought dryly at himself.

'Hahahahahahaha! I knew it!' Shukaku bellowed with laughter but shut up when Gaara growled at him.

"Very well. If you really want to help out with Quoi, I won't stop you." Gaara told her, folding his arms but keeping a smirk on his face. "But I have to warn you. Quoi doesn't pay attention to others very well." He warned her.

However, about ten minutes laughter, the young Kazekage was staring at his apprentice with bewilderment as he watched Sakura sitting before Quoi, telling him all of the basics about Chakra control and even was showing him how to walk up the tree. Of course, at first, Quoi had had a hard time doing it but soon enough, he seemed to be doing very well with Sakura helping him a little. The boy was standing vertically on the tree with Sakura holding his hands and helping him walk up the tree, although, they were both laughing. By that time, Kankuro had woken up and he two was bewildered.

"Geezus, Gaara! Never in my life, or at least for the time I've known the baka gaki, have I ever seen him actually listen to someone else other than you." The Puppet Master said, his jaw dropped down wide.

Of course, inside Gaara's head, Shukaku was bellowing with laughter. He found this entire situation completely hilarious. Gaara could feel him rolling around inside his mind, laughing hard. 'Aww, geez! I think you're kid has a crush on Sakura, that's why he's listening to her! Little brat!' He laughed.

Gaara ignored him but continued to stare at his young apprentice with his face softening a little. He had to admit it, but he was amazed. He didn't even seem to care what Shukaku remarked about Quoi having a minor crush on his girlfriend. He was just happy that he was actually listening to his studies. And even happier than Sakura was helping him teach Quoi.

However, finally, Yamato, Naruto and Sai were done training with one another and Sai had succeeded into capturing the ANBU Captain like he and Naruto had been trying. But, the problem was, Naruto was not entirely happy with his partner. He walked right up to Sai and roughly grabbed his black jacket, making Gaara and the others frown.

"What is it?" Sai asked blankly.

Naruto glared right at Sai in great dislike. "Do you know what the word "Companion" means?!" He demanded angrily.

There was a long pause as everyone watched the two, somewhat uneasily. So, yet again, the two were about to fight. Gaara stood up with Sakura, Quoi and Kankuro and watched as Naruto and Sai had a little bit of a face off. Sai, however, frowned for a second before he pulled out of Naruto's grip and began writing on a scroll. After finishing, he showed it to Naruto. "Of course. What about it?" He asked, blankly.

Even Gaara, his brother and student had to frown at that, while Naruto gritted his teeth and glared harder at Sai. Sakura, however, quickly stepped forward, looking uneasy about a fight breaking out. "Hold on, Naruto." She told him.

"Please don't blame others for your own minimal amount of ability." Sai said blankly looking at Naruto. Even though his words just made everyone frown at him. "Had you not fallen for the Captains obvious provocation, I would have been able to stay hidden without being exposed. You went and had your clone transform into me, then made it obvious by using your own jutsu." His words only seemed to anger Naruto even more. "It's not pleasant to fight while looking after someone who can't even keep himself in check. I just worked with the success of the mission in mind."

Angrily, Naruto shoved away hard from Sai and turned his back onto the ninja in black, looking savage. "I..." he began. "...will never consider you a companion or a member of Team Kakashi."

With a sigh, Yamato shook his head and placed his hand against his forehead, looking very disappointed. In a way, Gaara couldn't blame him for getting a little upset. The whole objective of the training session was to learn how to work together and get along. But both Naruto and Sai just couldn't do it. It really annoyed the Kazekage of how Sai was always insulting his best friend, but it also annoyed him of how Naruto just couldn't swallow his pride and just for once work with someone so annoying like Sai.

"What would Sasuke-kun have done in that situation?" Sai continued. "Fought while looking after you? As a companion and a member of Team Kakashi? The one who betrayed the village and injured you...you still refer to him as a friend?"

There was a long, uneasy pause as everyone waited for what would happen next. They were just waiting for Naruto to just blow up. But the blonde only turned around and looked right at Sai, giving him a very dark look. It surprised even Gaara to see that his best friend hadn't rushed the Root ninja and begin beating him every inch of his life. It surprised him that his best friend was handling himself very well. "If it's to save that friend, I'll do anything. Even work with you." Naruto said with determination. Then he turned away from everyone and started away from them.

"Why does he still...care about Sasuke that much?" Sai said quietly, clearly confused by Naruto's reaction

Gaara glanced over at the ANBU spy before looking over at Sakura as she moved closer to him. She had a sad look on her face as she watched Naruto walk off. "Naruto thinks of Sasuke as being like a brother. That's why." She paused for a second, not looking at Sai. "You have a brother too...don't you understand that feeling?"

There was a brief pause before the fake smile was back on Sai's face. "No. Not at all." Now everyone was looking at him with a frown. Sai finally turned his attention onto the pink haired girl and Gaara, who frowning with confusion. "Remember what we were saying about picture titles?" Sai asked, and when Sakura nodded, he went on. "I have none of what you'd call 'emotions'."

His very words somewhat surprised the whole lot of them, mostly Kankuro and Quoi. They both frowned in alarm as they looked at Sai, while Sakura and Gaara just frowned at him. They merely glanced at one another once but turned their eyes back onto the ninja in black. 'So, he has no emotions. Not at all. This explains a bit much.' Gaara thought.

"You say you don't feel anything..." Sakura paused, tilting her head. "You say you don't have emotions...what do you mean?"

Sai slowly shook his head looking blank again. "Just what I said." was his only answer.

For a very long moment, no one said anything but stared at Sai. Gaara's eyes, evidently, trailed back to Naruto, who was leaning against a tree and digging his fingers into the bark. He could see his best friend was in a lot of pain by what Sai had said to him earlier. And he felt the same. He couldn't feel Sasuke like a brother but he had been a friend and a comrade. He knew what kind of bond they had because he shared the same one with Naruto.

"In that case...if you have a brother, can't you imagine what it's like when he's not there?" Sakura tried again.

Sai turned his gaze away from her and looked over at Naruto, his fake smile back on his face. "Hmm. Yeah...sort of..." came his answer. "Since. my brother's already dead."

Sakura looked taken back by surprise while Gaara, Yamato and Kankuro just frowned. There was a very long silence as everyone stared at Sai, almost as if he was nuts or he was too cold hearted to have said something like that with a fake smile on his face. Sakura tilted her head to the side, looking somewhat saddened. "Then you really should..." She was saying.

"Hmm. Should I have used that kind of expression?" Sai asked glancing over at her again.

Gaara frowned with everyone but then glanced over to Naruto, who had turned slightly back just to pick up his bag. The look on his best friend's face was so haunting. There was a look of almost an eternal sadness on his face. It was a look that Gaara hated seeing on Naruto's face. He had seen it only once before and that was when he fought with him because of Shukaku. Naruto had had that look on his face when he tried to leave the Leaf Village because of the monster inside of him. Sakura frowned just like him and shook her head as she turned towards Sai, who turned his back onto them. "Is there something you want to say?"

Sai merely shook his head without looking at either one of them. "Not really. I just didn't know what kind of expression to put on when my brother died." he answered quietly.

That answer just made Gaara's mouth grow firm and he saw that it did the same to Sakura. Both of them looked at Sai with such hard and dry stares. There were two feelings that the young Kazekage was feeling right now for Sai. One was pity. He pitied him for not being able to feel any kind of emotion. He didn't seem to know what emotions truly were, even though he painted them down in his sketch book. To not know what the meanings of emotions, that was horrible. But the other feeling, the second, Gaara felt great dislike for him. To say that your brother died and then say that last bit so half heartedly, he hated the Root ANBU. He didn't know how he or Naruto, or even Sakura felt for Sasuke. He didn't have a clue and he didn't seem to care at all. It took a lot of will power to not kill him there, just to end his misery of emotionless life.

"Enough talking for now. We're heading out. So gather your things." Yamato interrupted.

So without a word, Gaara turned to Kankuro and Quoi, giving them a nod. Kankuro nodded right back and dragged the kid after him to get his bag from behind a tree. He, however, paused to stand by his younger brother. "That guy, Gaara, is truly messed up. Whoever has raised him has made him into the perfect machine for ninja." He murmured before going to get his bag with Quoi.

Gaara could only nod.

"Sai," Sakura spoke up, catching both Gaara and Sai's attention. "To be honest, I would have sent you flying just then. I told you that if you bad-mouthed Sasuke once more, I wouldn't hold back. And Gaara wouldn't hold me back. But I didn't do that because of what Naruto just said. That to save Sasuke, he'd even work with someone like you who bad mouths him." She turned around and started walking after Naruto but paused. "No matter who you are...to save Sasuke, I won't hurt you." She said rather coldly.

Sai tilted his head towards him, frowning but there was a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Sakura...you're very...yeah." He put on his fake smile. "You're very gentle with Naruto, aren't you? I don't understand feelings like those. It was in a book I read." He admitted.

However, Gaara shook his head as he folded his arms and moved to follow Sakura, pausing to look over his shoulder at Sai, who met his eyes. He gave him a very serious look but turned slightly away. "Reading about feelings in a book is completely different than what they truly feel like. I think it's a lie that you don't feel anything." His words made Sai blink. "You do feel things, even if you don't realize it. That is what explains your actions. You are only human. We all are. And feelings are what makes humans human." He said quietly.

"Come on." Naruto finally said impatiently coming back from behind the tree. "If we're not there by noon tomorrow, this will be all for nothing."

Gaara turned his attention over to Naruto and he nodded as he turned completely away from Sai. Sakura also nodded and walked over to Naruto, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder, which made his face soften a little. The young Kazekage waited for his older brother and young apprentice to join him but he still didn't move until Sai was next to him. "Sai," He spoke too quietly, making the pale ninja look over at him. He didn't look at him but he dipped his head lower as he left his eyes flicker over to Kankuro and Quoi who were slightly ahead. "Quoi means a lot to me. So does my brother, and Sakura. And Naruto is like my brother. We've been through a lot together. We've always been there for one another. Naruto has saved my life more than I can even think of. He saved me from myself. From the Akatsuki. And he's helped me see the true me." He finally turned his attention onto the ninja next to him, giving him a very serious look. "I don't know why you're really here but if any one of them gets hurt because of you, I will kill you myself. And I will make it the most painful death. You say you don't feel anything. But I can guarantee you, if any one of them gets hurt because of you, I swear you will." He warned him very coldly before he moved on.

Sai, however, held back for a moment to look after him, yet for the first time in his life, he felt a cold sweat roll down his back and his body had tensed up. 'Is this...is this what they call fear?' He could only think before he walked after them.


	9. Chapter Eight

By the next day, they had finally arrived at the Tenchi Bridge.

It had been early morning when they reached it, but the moment it came into view, Gaara turned directly towards Kankuro, giving him a very serious look. He knew that this was where the two had to stop. If they went any closer, they could probably alert the spy their presence. So glancing over his shoulder at the rest of Team Seven, who did stop to wait for him, Gaara then turned his attention onto Quoi. "Stay with Kankuro and no matter what you hear or see, you are not to leave his side." He told him strictly.

"Yes, Master Gaara." Quoi told him, trying to stand up as straight as he could like a noble Ninja.

Gaara only nodded in satisfaction before looking at Kankuro next, looking directly into his eyes. "Protect him, Kankuro. Don't let anything happen to him and be very careful. I don't want you to interfere. Not unless you think it's necessary." He told him.

Kankuro could only nod as he glanced over his brother's shoulder over to the bridge then turned his eyes back onto the red head. He looked right into Gaara's eyes. "Be careful, Gaara. Don't go getting yourself hurt now. Temari'll kill me." He said, making a face, which made Gaara smirk. But then he looked serious again. "And don't worry about Quoi. Just concentrate on capturing that spy. The baka will be fine with me. I will die before I let anyone hurt him." He told him.

'That's what I'm afraid of.' Gaara thought as he turned away and looked at Team Seven, giving them a nod that he was ready. He walked away from Kankuro and Quoi who took refuge within the trees to hide from view of anyone. He knew very well that Kankuro could protect Quoi from any danger, and that he would. He knew that the Puppet Master would never admit it, but he cared about the kid just like he did with his own siblings. The boy had become a part of his life just like he had with Gaara.

Team Seven didn't have to wait too long for the spy to show up.

In fact, he was already there but he didn't even seem to notice that they had arrived. He was standing in the middle of the bridge, draped in a dark brown cloak which hid his identity very well. Not even Gaara could figure out who it was. He was staring off down at the long fall below, probably just trying to keep himself occupied while waiting for Sasori to show up. Once they saw the spy, Yamato immediately began working on his disguise, being very careful not to attract the spy's attention. He created it without even having the spy look in their direction.

Once the disguise was completed, Yamato turned to the other four and gave them a serious nod, which each of them nodded right back. Then he climbed into the puppet he created and started making his way towards the bridge. Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Gaara stayed on the end of the bridge, well hidden, thanks to some of Gaara's sand. They watched carefully as Yamato approached the spy, who kept their back to him. But when Yamato, as Sasori, finally approached the spy, the spy finally turned around and said something, though it was hard for the other three to hear. Gaara, however, heard it just fine. And he froze with shock. He knew that voice.

"It has been a long time, Sasori-sama." came that voice that he remembered. And then the spy turned around to face Yamato, revealing his face to not only Yamato, but to the other three. "It's been five years." Kabuto Yakushi said smirking at him.

Gaara sensed Naruto and Sakura's shock and he didn't blame them. He was surprised himself. He hadn't been expecting to see that gray haired ninja who had once been a Leaf Ninja again. He remembered how Kabuto also betrayed the Leaf Village to join Orochimaru's ranks and had been considered as the Sanin's right hand man. Gaara didn't like this at all. He knew there was no way at all that Kabuto would ever betray Orochimaru. He gritted his teeth but watched carefully through narrowed eyes.

"Were you followed?" Yamato spoke in the perfect imitation of Sasori's voice, hiding the fact that he was surprised too.

Kabuto smirked from under the hood but shook his head. He kept the hood over his head, just in case. "No. It is safe." He reassured "Sasori".

Yamato had the puppets head bob before he moved closer to him. He kept his eyes on the gray haired ninja though, being a little cautious. "How are you?" He merely asked.

Kabuto turned his head away but kept facing him. He had a frown on his face but it looked almost thoughtful. As if he was doing some careful thinking. "When your jutsu lifted, and I remembered who I really was, I felt somewhat disoriented. I am still somewhat heavy headed." he explained quietly to Yamato, thinking it was Sasori.

"Him again?!" Naruto whispered sharply beside Gaara and Sakura, making both of them glance at him.

But Sakura shook her head as she looked down at the bridge, watching Kabuto with surprise. "No way...Kabuto was an Akatsuki spy all that time..." She whispered.

Gaara narrowed his eyes though. He did not like this. He could only guess that Kabuto might have been under some kind of hypnosis by Sasori, making him believe that he was working for Orochimaru when in fact he was working for the Akatsuki. And seeing that he was an Akatsuki spy, as well as once a Leaf Ninja, who clearly knew about Gaara, there was no doubt at all that somehow Sasori had known that Gaara was alive the entire time while the rest of the Akatsuki had thought he had been dead. He must have known if Kabuto really had been his spy, keeping tabs in Konoha. Still, there was something wrong here. He felt Shukaku growling a little within his head and when the sand demon did that, it mostly meant someone else was watching or there was danger near by. Frowning, Gaara lift a hand without catching the other three's attention and formed a hand sign. Using his other hand, he created his third eye before squashing it and sending the sand out onto the wind to get a good look around the area.

Just in case.

"I have some questions for you." Yamato spoke with Sasori's voice though being very careful.

Kabuto nodded to the fake Sasori and looked at him from over the rim of his hood. "I have little time. So please make it brief. It was a great risk to slip away from Orochimaru to come here." he told him carefully.

Yamato only nodded the wooden puppet's head. "Tell me about...the location of your base and about Sasuke Uchiha." He told Kabuto.

There was a brief pause as Kabuto looked right into the eyes of the puppet before him before he smiled softly, almost friendly like. It was somewhat reassuring though. Still, Gaara hadn't liked it as he kept one eye on the two on the bridge while still looking for the source of Shukaku's unease. "We have many bases. To keep from being discovered, we change bases on a weekly basis." Kabuto explained. "There are, of course, bases in countries besides the Sound. Orochimaru's spies enter those countries and guide us. But we have various movement methods, which can sometimes be cumbersome. Our current base is hidden on a small island in a lake to the north. We will move from there in three days." He paused for a very long moment before his head dipped down. "Sasuke Uchiha is also there."

However, a strong wind began to blow through the valley, catching some of Gaara's sand and blowing it off course. The young Kazekage gritted his teeth but did his best to have the sand swirl closer to Yamato and Kabuto, seeing that they barely could hear anything now. He figured he'd have to see what was being said. He could hear Naruto complaining a little but with a sharp look at him, the blonde shut up.

A rustling noise close by, however, made Gaara tense up making his head jerk to the side, which the noise also caught Kabuto's attention. The gray haired ninja jerked around, looking very alert and nervous. But to both the hidden Kazekage and the Medical ninja's relief, it was only a rabbit. The rabbit quickly vanished though. Too suddenly actually and that made Gaara frown. He knew rabbits were fast and spooked too easily but Shukaku was still growling and it was causing his sand gourd to vibrate a little. 'Shukaku, relax. It was only a rabbit.'

'Do not tell me to relax, Gaara.' Shukaku growled at him from within. 'There's a snake close by. I can smell it on the wind. You can't because you're more a human than I. Take a very close look on the other side of the bridge. That's where it is.'

Gaara frowned but concentrated on his sand grains to float on the wind to the other side of the bridge. He kept some close to Yamato and Kabuto to keep an eye on them. But he let his sand move into the trees on the other side of the bridge. But something that Kabuto began to say caught his attention.

"By the way...about that one task you asked of me, Sasori-sama," Kabuto began. "Even after his transmigration, Orochimaru cast a Jutsu on the cellular specimen of the leftover corpse in order to protect it. I was unable to perform any data analysis of that specimen."

The Kazekage grew very tense, knowing very well that Yamato had too within the puppet. He knew very well that Yamato had no idea of what he was talking about. And if Kabuto asked a question about the specimen in particular, whatever he was working on, it could be a huge problem. But what specimen was he talking about?

The only answer that Yamato could answer was, "I see."

"Just what is he doing?!" Naruto whispered sharply gritting his teeth. "Why doesn't he just go ahead with the capture already?!"

Sakura shook her head beside the blonde, her emerald eyes flickering over to him. "This is Kabuto we're talking about here. If he were to get away, then things would end there. Taking things almost too carefully here is just what the captain needs to be doing." She explained quietly.

Sai, however, nodded as he merely looked right at her. "Still, if he takes things more carefully than he needs to and ends up arousing suspicion, then he'll lose his chance to capture the target." He said very quietly, almost too quietly that no one other than Gaara heard.

Gaara, however, grew very tense when he saw sudden movement, which made Shukaku snarl within his head. He saw it too. A purple snake sliding right out of the bushes, one he didn't know too well but remembered how Jiraiya once told him that most of Orochimaru's summon snakes were purple. 'Shit! He's here!' he thought, now starting to move a little.

But it was too late.

As Yamato was about to make his move, pulling out a kunai as if to fight Kabuto, the tall, pale serpentine ninja, himself suddenly appeared right behind Kabuto, who grew very tense and looked shocked, himself. The purple snake wrapped around both of them, bringing them back to back. Orochimaru was smirking his snake like smile while Kabuto looked surprised. "Your conversation seems quite amusing. You wouldn't mind if I joined in, wouldn't you?" He asked slyly.

Quickly, Kabuto leapt right out of his cloak and away from Orochimaru and his snake, joining by Yamato's side with a kunai in hand. He still looked very surprised but alert. "I almost wasn't able to step back in time, but thanks to you taking out your kunai, Sasori-sama, I was." He said, nodding his thanks over to the fake Sasori.

Gaara, like the other three, had grown very tense and had even started growling himself, matching Shukaku's growls. Seeing the snake like ninja, he felt like running out there to protect Yamato but knew very well that if he revealed himself, he would blow the Captain's cover, seeing that it hadn't been blown yet. He felt Sakura's hand wrap around his, which made him glance over at her. She looked just as worried as he was but she was doing her best to trying to keep him calm. She knew very well of how much he hated Orochimaru. The Sanin had tried to have him killed during the Chuunin Exams three years ago and had had killed the Third Hokage, whom had been somewhat kind to him. He linked his fingers with hers, trying to smile but couldn't really find himself to. So instead he looked back down at the mess going on down on the bridge.

"That cloak of yours...it brings back memories, Sasori." Orochimaru said smirking at Yamato in Sasori's disguise, his arms folded across his chest.

Yamato dipped the puppet's head down, looking very menacing as he eyed the serpentine ninja. "So you followed Kabuto here then?" He asked darkly.

Orochimaru smirked at him but dipped his head into a nod. "What now...I just wanted to give you some thanks. That lovely boy there you sent me...I was able to make quite good use of him." His words surprised the hidden Ninja but made the Kazekage's eyes narrow. He wanted to know what the snake like man was talking about. Kabuto? "In order for me to develop a new Jutsu, I need to conduct experiments on well over a hundred live human subjects. Thanks to that boy's medical ninjutsu, I was able to use the same test subject any number of times. I have quite a hard time coming across enough test subjects, after all."

"What do we do now?!" Naruto asked almost panicking next to Gaara.

But both Gaara and Sakura shook their heads, not looking at him. "All we can do is wait for the captain's signal." The pink haired kunoichi simply said. But something made Gaara tense up immediately. He saw Kabuto now raising a hand and letting it glow blue, something knew well. He knew that Kabuto was using the Mystic Palm technique which allowed his hand to become basically a sharp blade.

And he swiped the puppet next to him, cutting it open to reveal Yamato inside.

'Damn it! Kabuto was playing Yamato!' Gaara thought, as he stiffened.

Yamato quickly jumped out of the wooden puppet, holding his arm where Kabuto had cut him with his mystic scalpel. So he was injured a little but his attention was quickly brought onto Orochimaru as he threw out his arm towards him, where several poisonous purple snakes shot right out of his sleeves and headed straight for him. Before Yamato could do anything, he was suddenly wrapped up by the many snakes, trapping him. The snakes even began biting at him, making the ANBU cry out in pain. But, a second later, Gaara realized that it was not Yamato they were biting. He had used a substitution jutsu, putting a wooden doll in his place.

As for the real Yamato, he was back on the bridge, still holding his arm where Kabuto had cut him. He was looking at Orochimaru through alert eyes, while the serpentine was smirking. "This is the Wood Substitution Jutsu." He began before snickering, holding his arm where the snakes were retreating up his sleeve. He was smirking at Yamato, who glared at him. "You couldn't be..." He was saying.

That made Gaara blink. He was surprised to see how Orochimaru was looking at Yamato as if he knew him.

"Orochimaru-sama, is that the real Sasori?" Kabuto asked straightening up.

Orochimaru snickered but shook his head as he eyed Yamato like a mouse to eat. "Kabuto, are you telling me that you, one of Sasori's own subordinates, don't even know his real face?" He asked with amusement.

Kabuto didn't look at Orochimaru but was smirking as he looked right at Yamato. "Well, he was a gloomy individual after all. He always hid in that puppet of his." He remarked.

"What are you talking about...?!" Yamato asked frowning, straightening only a little. "Kabuto...you're suppose to be an Akatsuki spy. You should have been under the effects of Sasori's Jutsu all the while."

Kabuto only nodded as he continued to smile rather smugly but tilted his head towards Orochimaru, who had folded his arms as he continued to eye Yamato. "Ah, yes. That Jutsu...Orochimaru-sama freed me from it quite some time ago." He admitted.

Hearing that even made Gaara's face hardened. So all that time, he had always been working for Orochimaru. He had been Sasori's little puppet at one time but he also played Sasori, making him think that he was his information slave. The Kazekage might have hated Sasori because of what he did to the Sand Village but to be played like that by his own man, that was an outrage. He felt his fists clench tightly while the sand gourd rumbled a little on his back. He saw Yamato's face even harden from where he was standing.

"I wasn't expect you to change sides, acting as though you were still under the effects of Sasori's jutsu. I suppose this means you fell to prey to Orochimaru's jutsu then." Yamato asked dryly, ignoring the blood running down his arm.

Kabuto shook his head as he shrugged innocently, even though there was nothing innocent about him at all. "No. Not exactly." He then dropped his arms to his side, still smirking at Yamato. "All I fell prey too was Orochimaru's magnificent way of thinking." He shook his head again. "I chose this path myself. But tell me...who are you, anyway. We came here with the intention of killing Sasori, so this is quite the mishap."

It was Orochimaru's turn to smirk and shake his head. "Kabuto...I'll tell you about this little boy here, afterwards. But first things first..." He let his eyes flicker right past Yamato towards the trees. "Why don't you call out those three little mice hiding in the brush?"

His words somewhat surprised Yamato but then made his head dipped downward as a smirk formed on his face. He was very aware, as was the hidden four that Orochimaru believed that there were only three ninja backing up Yamato. So he must have not had a clue that Gaara was there too. This was going to be amusing. So the wood controller smirked and rose a hand, giving the signal. Immediately there were three flashes as Naruto, Sakura and Sai quickly joined him on the bridge, standing between Yamato and the other two, looking ready to fight him. Gaara hadn't exactly joined them exactly yet. He wanted to drawl out the drama a little. But the sight of the three made Orochimaru chuckle and Kabuto smirk coldly.

"You again..." Kabuto remarked with cold amusement.

Orochimaru shook his head, narrowing his eyes with his cold smirk on his face. "I've seen that face any number of times...since the Kyuubi boy is here too...let's play with them a little bit..." He cut himself off while his face slowly fell with a look of surprise, which turned into horror as a whirlwind of sand began to spin around right next to Yamato, who was smirking as he glanced at the Kazekage, who just appeared out of nowhere right next to him. "No...No! Not you!"

Gaara opened his black rimmed eyes before smirking right at Orochimaru, who stepped back in alarm. He had his arms folded over his chest and gave the serpent like ninja a very cold smirk as he let his sand continue swirling around him. "Orochimaru." He said coldly.

"Give Sasuke back!" Naruto suddenly began growling.

Even Gaara had to frown when he glanced over at his best friend, seeing that a red aura had started to swirl around him, and his eyes had turned blood red. It was something he had seen before. When he had nearly died and Naruto's very own subconscious entered his own to stop him from leaving. Naruto's eyes had been flickering to red, due to Kyuubi. By the looks of it, he having a little bit of trouble controlling the Nine Tailed Fox. 'Shukaku, what's happening to Naruto?' He thought with concern.

'The foxboy doesn't really have good control over the fox. Kyuubi wants out.' The sand demon informed him.

"There is no giving back, Naruto." Kabuto said smirking. "Here, let me explain it to you..." He started to explain. "Sasuke came to us of his own free will. It's about time you got over it. Going on like that is hardly behaving as a man..."

"Shut your mouth, four-eyes!" Sakura snapped, her eyes full of hot fire. "You don't know a damned thing about Naruto's feelings! I've had more than enough of your "cool" attitude!" She snapped.

Orochimaru, who was eyeing Gaara with distaste, shook his head but narrowed his eyes. "If you want to know about Sasuke, why don't you try forcing it out of me?" He said trying to smirk at them.

Gaara's head dipped down lower as he gave Orochimaru a cold look but an even colder smirk curled on his face as he looked right into the snake man's eyes. He looked way too dangerous at the moment and it even made Sakura shiver of how cold he looked. "How about I just let Shukaku eat you? Then we can go to Sasuke, our selves?" He asked dangerously. He grinned almost wickedly when Orochimaru drew back a little. But a second later, his eyes flashed and he jerked his head around.

It was at that precise moment, there was a loud crack and wood began to crack right under Naruto's feet, causing Sakura and Sai to jump back a little as debris nearly hit them. They had to hold up their arms to protect their selves, while Gaara on the other hand, watched in surprise as Naruto, now surrounded by red bubbly energy leapt at Orochimaru, almost too quick to see him. He was practically a red blur, which even surprised Orochimaru as he came right up to him, grabbing him by the face. Everyone watched in shock as Naruto flung Orochimaru as hard away from him, sending him crashing into the trees on the other side of the ravine, and crashing through the trees nearly fifty feet away.

"Naruto!" Gaara found himself shout with shock at his best friend.

But Naruto didn't even seem to hear. He just stood in a crouch, growling like an animal as he glared right after Orochimaru. This was a side of Naruto that Gaara had never seen before. It was actually rather frightening. Even for Gaara's standards. He couldn't believe that Naruto's usual cheerful personality had taken such a turn like that. 'Naruto...' He thought before he suddenly found Naruto's now blood red eyes glancing over his shoulder at him.

"Hmm." Kabuto started chuckling right from where he stood. "Naruto...I see you've developed very nicely as a Jinchuuriki." He remarked.

Gaara shot the gray haired ninja a very dark look but his attention was suddenly on the other side of the bridge again when Orochimaru was walking towards the bridge again, looking very amused. His pale skin was torn really badly though and there seemed to be someone else right under that skin of Orochimaru's. It only alarmed them all. "My, oh, my. You sure have become quite the Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki." He chuckled smirking at the glowing red Naruto. He then stepped onto the bridge, facing the blonde. "And that explains why you were chosen to watch over him. It would appear my experiments were some of help after all." He stated, but his eyes were only Yamato. The young Kazekage glanced over his shoulder at Yamato, who's head dipped down a little. It didn't take a genius to figure out that was who Orochimaru was talking about. "I should think Konoha would be a bit more appreciative. Wouldn't you agree, my dearest guinea pig?"

Yamato's eyes narrowed a little, not looking happy that he had just said that. Kabuto, however as smirking with amusement. "Guinea pig...? Just who is this person?" He asked..

"Well, you see, the First Hokage was a Shinobi processing the most unique of abilities...his Wood controlling Jutsu." Orochimaru began to explain as he reached up and touched the huge hole in his face and when he removed his hand, his face was back in place. "And...what's more...he was able to bend the Bijuu to his own will. Oh how I coveted those gifts of his..." He shook his head as he lowered his hand again. "Having obtained data on the First's genome from his remains, I carried out an experiment in which his genetic traits were spliced into the cells of 60 different children, my test subjects. But their bodies didn't seem to like the foreign DNA, to say the least. They died by the dozens, one after another..." He explained.

Gaara's own teeth gritted and his sand began to swirl around him threateningly. He was understanding every word that Orochimaru had been saying. He knew very well that Orochimaru meant to say, he had performed inhumane experiments on children, trying to combine the First Hokage's powers with one of the children. But it only killed them. And Yamato-taichou had been one of those children. Tortured and experimented on by this...this...'Monster!' He thought savagely.

"And here I thought they'd all shared the same fate...to think that there was a lone survivor." Orochimaru said chuckling.

The young Kazekage glanced over at Yamato, who's face darkened. He didn't reply to anything that the snake was saying but Gaara knew very well that it was true. 'So...the First Hokage had used his power over wood to control the Bijuus.' He thought before turning his head slightly as if to look at Shukaku within. 'That includes you too, Shukaku, right?'

'Please don't even remind me.' Shukaku growled at him. 'There was only one that he couldn't control and that was the Three Tail, Sanabi, wherever the hell he is. I don't even think he's been captured yet. I sense his presence.'

Gaara blinked in surprise to hear that. He wasn't entirely sure if he heard right. But before he could ask Shukaku, he heard Kabuto remark how Orochimaru was about to get his hands on a long over due test subject, which could only mean Yamato. This made his face darken and the sand swirl threateningly around him. He knew very well he was going to need to protect the Captain from the Sanin.

"Yes. But before that, I would wish to see our Sasuke fight the Kyuubi boy once. I wonder which has gotten strong..." Orochimaru was saying with a smirk.

"He isn't yours." Naruto said dangerously, which the red aura grew brighter and stronger. It was an energy that even made Gaara grimace, not pleasant at all. He could see the bubbly Chakra energy growing into some kind of figure all around Naruto and three appendixes began to form on his back side. It startled Gaara quite a bit to see that they were tails. "In my presence, don't you dare talk of Sasuke as though he belongs to you!" Naruto snarled, his voice changing a little.

The air all around all of the ninja began to grow very hot and it stung everyone's skin quite a bit. Even Gaara had to wince of how vicious it was growing. This was serious, he knew. He could sense the Kyuubi's power over flowing within Naruto. And it only brought back memories of what happened when Shukaku took over his body. The same thing was happening now to Naruto. Naruto was losing control over Kyuubi. Black tentacles like energy strands began to wave all around Naruto and he started to take some kind of transformation. A very terrifying one.

Gaara could see the Nine Tailed Fox in Naruto's place, which made him grow very tense. 'I have to stop this! Naruto's losing control!' He thought rapidly.

'Kid! If you go up against Naruto and Kyuubi, they will rip you apart! I hate to admit it, but Kyuubi is ten times stronger than me!' Shukaku warned him.

Gaara glanced to the side, gritting his teeth. 'I have to try! He had done the same for me when you took over!' He thought to the demon.

'The only difference is, Brat, Kyuubi is ten times stronger than me! That means he's a hundred times stronger than you! With that sand or not! You are no match for him!' The Sand demon roared at him.

'And you were ten times stronger than Naruto when he beat us both up!' Gaara shot back. 'And he still wouldn't give up! Now I won't!'

The young Kazekage's attention shot back to what was happening before him to see Naruto's energy was now destroying the bridge right from under his bridge. The Nine Tail's energy was devastating. It was ripping the bridge to pieces all around Naruto. It just made Gaara shiver to think that his best friend was this powerful.

Suddenly, Kabuto was rushing at Naruto, his hands glowing blue with the intention to strike him from behind. It was in his intention to hurt Naruto while he was still developing his energy in the most worst way. But, of course, Naruto saw him coming and gave an animalistic roar at him, which caused a massive destructive wave, destroying the middle of the bridge. The impact made the entire bridge shake violently; too violently that it nearly threw everyone off their feet. Gaara staggered as the bridge shook under him but his eyes snapped wide open when he saw Kabuto get thrown back but he also saw Sakura get thrown off her feet and hit her head very hard on the bridge floor. She didn't get back up. "Sakura!" He shouted.

That was only the half of it. The middle of the bridge had been destroyed and now it was crumbling like dried bread and falling towards the ravine. Both sides of the bridge began to fall, which Yamato immediately took action. He snapped his hands together and wood shot out of the cliff walls and under their side of the ravine to keep it from falling. Gaara frowned firmly as he quickly called out his sand, causing his entire gourd to explode as he had the sand quickly join the ANBU captain to keep the piece of the bridge from collapsing.

'Gaara! Sakura's falling!' Shukaku roared.

That distracted Gaara enough. His head jerked around to see the piece of the bridge where Sakura was lying was so slanted now that she was sliding right off it. "NO!" He yelled in horror. He frowned when he saw Sai yank out a scroll from his pack and began panting rapidly on it. A second later, a large bird made out of ink exploded right out of it and Sai jumped onto it's back, having it dive right after Sakura.

"Sai!" Yamato shouted. "Help Sakura!"

Gaara felt his body tense up as he stood where he was, trying very hard to concentrate his sand to keep the bridge up. His wide eyes followed Sakura as she began to fall into the ravine. 'No, no, no, no, no, no!' He was shouting within his head. 'Sakura!' He watched as she fell and hoped to high hell that Sai would take his earlier threat very seriously by saving her. He had to catch his breath as he watched Sai's bird fly right under Sakura, looking as if the pale ninja was going to catch her. 'Sai...I should have never doubted you.' He thought feeling his breath slowly let out.

But, to his horror, Sai flew right past Sakura, letting her continue to fall.

"SAKURA!" Gaara let out a terrible roar as he let go of his sand and raced over to the side of the bridge to jump off to go after her. He had his sand practically form sand made wings as he gripped the broken railing. 'I am going to kill him! I will rip him to shreds!' He thought savagely as he got ready to jump over the bridge.

But suddenly, blue Chakra strings shot downward, surprising the young Kazekage, making him turn his head sharply, only to see Kankuro quickly emerge from the bushes with his Chakra strings spilling out of his fingers. He had arrived right on time to save Sakura, and even had his puppet, Crow diving right after her. The puppet quickly approached Sakura's falling form and caught her before she could fall even more. Crow's arms wrapped around Sakura, pulling her close to it's wooden body before lashing out one long arm, which caught another's. Gaara turned his eyes to see that Kankuro was now controlling Black Ant on the side of the cliff to catch Crow from falling. Both Puppets grabbed each other's hands and they swung right into Salamander, who was clinging right onto the side of the cliff. The safety compartment was open and Sakura was quickly placed inside before all three puppets were yanked upward by Kankuro's strength until they were safely on the ground.

"Kankuro!" Gaara called over to his older brother. "Where is Quoi?!"

Kankuro was too busy rushing over to his puppets' sides and pulling Salamander open to pull Sakura out and check to see if she was all right. But he quickly jerked his head around to look over his shoulder at Gaara. "He's safe! I left him right where we were suppose to be! I felt that nasty bit of Chakra and came as fast as I could! What was that?!" He shouted.

Gaara's body whirled around as he looked off to the other side of the ravine where he could see explosions within the trees. He knew very well who was responsible and he could see Sai flying off on his giant bird. Gritting his teeth in rage for the Root Ninja, he dipped his head down. "Naruto! It was him!" He jerked around again, giving Kankuro a stern look. "Take care of her! I have to go after them!" He yelled before he was running as fast as he could with his sand right behind him. He launched right past Yamato who was still concentrating on the bridge, who watched with surprise but slowly shook his head with a grave look.

Running as fast as he could, Gaara rushed through the trees with his sand trailing behind him like the wings of a dragon and he was about to spit fire. He swore he was going to kill Sai for this. He had been right there and he could have saved Sakura but he hadn't! He had flown right past her! 'I'll kill him! But first things first! I have to help Naruto!' He thought speedily.

Suddenly, Gaara felt a very hot energy slice right past him as the explosions grew louder and he came closer to them. He felt a sinister Chakra signature and he knew very well who it was. He had felt it before within his own mind when he died and Naruto fought to bring him back. He knew it was the Nine Tailed Fox. 'Naruto!' He thought quickly.

'Damn! Kyuubi's breaking out! He's growing too savage and he's ripping up the land!' Shukaku roared within his head. 'If you really mean to help your pal, you might have to transform into me! It's the only way of fighting him and not ending up dead!'

Gaara didn't like that idea. He didn't like the fact that he'd have to let Shukaku take over to defeat Naruto and knock him back into his senses. Depending on the sand demon like that?! He knew very well that Shukaku swore to protect him from now on but he still felt very uneasy about having to let him take over. He didn't want to repeat what happened the day of the attack on Konoha Village, when Shukaku tried to destroy everything. 'No!'

'There is no other way! You can't fight him yourself!' Shukaku roared at him.

"NO! I will free him, myself!" Gaara shouted before picking up his speed. He knew he needed to hurry.

There was a loud explosion up a head and something shot right at him; a tree! Gaara flinched, of course, deflecting the tree with his sand. The impact of it was pretty nasty though. The tree shot right through the sand and almost hit him, which he found some luck into leaping to the side. He looked wide eyed at the tree as it struck several others, destroying them into splinters. He swallowed hard, the young Kazekage turned to look at the long trail the tree had caused, only to see a large clearing where something had destroyed a very large portion of the forest. There were hardly and trees left in the area. But he could see into it.

And there in the center was a creature that resembled a demonic fox.

The creature was almost completely fiery red with black markings every where and it did look like a fox. There were four tails whipping out right behind it as it crouched down and was snarling viciously. The creature, Gaara knew, had to be Naruto. He had transformed just like he had that day he fought Naruto. "Naruto..." The red head breathed with horror.


	10. Chapter Nine

Gaara stared in horror at the creature that Naruto had become. He just couldn't believe his eyes. This creature, he could sense, was pure evil. He could feel the evil power behind it. And he knew very well that it was his best friend. His best friend was hardly in control anymore. The young Kazekage felt pain within his chest as he watched the creature roar and snarl as it whirled around in circles, looking for Orochimaru. It was like a wild animal and it hurt Gaara to think that his friend was this creature. "Naruto." He breathed in horror again before quickly hurried into the clearing. He had to stop Naruto at all costs. The Nine Tailed Fox was trying to destroy what innocence that Naruto possessed. He knew it had to be.

The creature turned its head as if it sensed Gaara's presence and those vicious red eyes found his wide, terrified teal ones. It snarled at him and even looked as if it was about to lunge. "Naruto, stop it." Gaara begged quietly. He couldn't stand this anymore. He couldn't stand seeing his brother like friend turning into such a wretched and blood thirsty creature. He refused to let him turn into something that he, himself, had almost turned into. "Naruto!"

Suddenly there was several hundreds of hisses, making both Gaara and the creature's heads jerk around only to see nearly a hundred snakes pouring right out of Orochimaru's mouth and rushing at Naruto. The snakes were hissing violently as they raced at the now monster turned Naruto, snapping fangs at him and ready to start biting him.

Gritting his teeth, Gaara quickly lunged into the clearing with sand swirling around him and now lashing out towards the snakes. He was not going to let Orochimaru hurt Naruto, even if this creature was vicious. He swore that he would protect him and he was going to live by that promise. His sand quickly engulfed most of the snakes and he began squeezing his fists, crushing the snakes as fast as he could. He felt the eyes of the creature Naruto had turned into watching him as he defended him but he didn't pay too much attention to him. He just kept swallowing up the snakes with his sand, not noting how one of them whipped right around the sand and turned towards him instead of Naruto.

'Gaara! Watch out! You missed one!' Shukaku roared within his head.

Gaara's eyes sharply jerked downward to see the snake rearing its head and baring dripping fangs full of poison. He quickly took a step back and lashed out a hand towards it, bringing sand to quickly grab at the snake. The snake struck though before the sand could wrap around its long purple body and crush it. The fangs bit into his leg, sinking into him. The red head could not stop from crying out in pain before the snake was crushed to death by his sand. He fell to his knee and clutched at his wound on his calf. He felt his blood trailing between the sand skin he wore and through the fabric of his pants. 'Urgh!' He groaned as he felt sweat breaking from under his hair line. And because of his adrenaline was pumping, he felt the dizzying effects of the poison.

'Damn it! You just had to go get bitten, didn't you?! Poison can even work on us, Bijuu, if injected right into the blood stream!' Shukaku growled at him.

"Shut. Up." Gaara groaned as he clutched his left, gritting his teeth.

"Well, that's one way to get rid of an annoying pest." Orochimaru sniggered from where he was crouching low to the ground and spilling more snakes to attack Naruto and even sent some towards Gaara. He had been rather terrified of Gaara when he saw him on the bridge but now he was wounded. There was no need to fear him now that he was inching closer to death. He knew very well he should finish him off while he had the chance though. That way, the One Tailed demon wouldn't be a threat to him anymore. Kill the Jinchuriki host, kill the demon.

However, before the snakes could even reach Gaara, the creature Naruto became let out a terrible sound. It sounded like a very angry creature who found something to savage. Naruto's beast like form had seen what Gaara tried to do for it and found itself enraged when he had gotten injured in protecting it from the snakes. Raising a hand full of vicious red and black claws, the creature lashed out into the air towards the snakes.

There was a huge explosion and a wave of energy engulfed the snakes before Naruto and the ones rushing at Gaara. It engulfed the red head too but the sand shield had managed to pull up before it could do any damage to him. The sand felt hot through Gaara's connection with it and it made him wince as he raised an arm to protect himself. He winced as he felt the Nine Tail's energy even bite into his skin a little. He blinked several times when he heard a loud crash and saw the creature slam its claws into the ground below it. The ground rumbled violently before exploding out of the ground to attack Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was quickly leaping away as the two claws from under the ground chased after him and tried to slash him apart. He was no longer smirking as he concentrated on getting away from the claws. He had to be constantly moving as the creature's claws continued to chase him all over the clearing and he even tried to draw the claws over to Gaara, hoping they'd strike him. He leapt out of the way to let the claws past him, and even smirked when they came close to striking the red head.

But they stopped only inches from the young Kazekage's face, who had drawn back with shock.

It seemed that the creature's intentions were not to hurt the one who had tried to protect him. The claws hovered in front of Gaara's face for a few mere seconds before they suddenly turned sharply and was chasing after Orochimaru again. 'Huh? Naruto...' The Kazekage thought with surprise.

'It seems to me that there's some control there then. Because you saved it from the snakes, the fox knows you're an ally. It's not going to try and hurt you.' Shukaku stated, sounding very relieved.

Gaara blinked several times but looked to see the claws reaching for Orochimaru, who had a large snake shoot right up his arm and wrap around the creature's arm. But as the snake tried to slither right up the creature's arm, the very energy burned the snake's skin. The young Kazekage grew tense when he saw Orochimaru's mouth open wide and a second Orochimaru came right out of his skin's mouth, speeding towards to the Naruto creature. He lashed out a fist and slammed it right into the creature's face and sent it flying back a little.

However, like what happened with Orochimaru, the creature seemed to split in two, becoming two creatures. The new one sliced at Orochimaru right through the middle, slicing him in two.

But instead of blood and gore, snakes poured out of both halves of the body and began rushing away from the creature before pulling itself together. Orochimaru had practically put himself back together, using the snakes. Smirking at the creature, he gave it a smug look, which seemed to enrage it more. It threw its head back and let out a terrible roar as blood red and ink black spheres began to explode from it, creating some kind of beam at its mouth. The energy grew more deadly by the second before forming into a nasty ball right before its head. Gaara could feel the terrible energy that the creature was putting into this next attack. This was going to be a very devastating one.

Orochimaru seemed to have guessed so too because he was quickly leaping away as fast as he could, trying to escape this attack.

"NARUTO! STOP!" Gaara yelled as loud as he could, ignoring the pain he felt within his body. He knew he had to stop Naruto from throwing that energy attack before he destroyed everything within five miles. He had figured that was how big this attack was going to be. "NARUTO!"

The Creature stopped with the energy ball hovering right over its mouth before it opened it and swallowed the ball right into it. It then suddenly began to swell up as if the ball had exploded within it, making Gaara freeze with horror and concern. He could only watch as it swelled up bigger before it opened its mouth and let a devastating blast shoot from its mouth and right at Orochimaru. Gaara could only watch in horror as the blast went flying at Orochimaru, who was smirking as if he had a plan. And apparently he did because he slammed his hands onto the ground.

Suddenly the ground began to rumble and break, making Gaara tense up just the ground around him began to rise up all around him. He swore loudly before quickly summoning his sand around him to protect him. He still was allowed to see what was going on and was shocked to see a huge building of some sort fell rose around him and Naruto, trying to trap them both inside.

But as soon as the area went dark around them, there was another loud explosion.

Even though Gaara was protected within his sand shield, he had covered his head to protect himself from the explosion. But slowly, he lowered his arm and looked around with shock, to see that the building had been devastately destroyed. His teal eyes flickered around the area to see that it had been the creature Naruto transformed into had been responsible for it. It was snarling at Orochimaru, who was no longer standing up. He was lying in a very awkward position with half of his body standing up into the air and the shoulders to his head was buried within the ground of the crater that the creature had caused.

Gaara could only stare with alarm at the entire scene before him. He just couldn't believe this. The power that Naruto possessed when he was transformed, he knew that if Kyuubi gained total control over his best friend, the devastation would be completely catastrophic.

Just then there was a low rumble from right under the dirt making Gaara grow very stiff as he fought his hardest to stand up and ignore the poison in his system. He knew that this wasn't the time to fallen ill. He could sense that Orochimaru was still somewhere near by and his suspicions proved to be correct because the source of the rumble was Orochimaru's sword thrusting out of the ground, right under Naruto's chaotic form. The sword pierced him right through the chest making Gaara's heart nearly stop as he watched the creature get thrown up into the air because of the snake like monster with Orochimaru's face came shoving itself up out of the ground.

"Naruto!" Gaara growled between his teeth as he forced himself to his feet, shivering a little from dizziness but closed his eyes quickly to take a deep breath. He concentrated very hard on his energy within. 'Shukaku, I'm releasing some of your power. Can you get rid of the poison?'

'I'll sure try. I can probably get rid of most of it so it won't be too dangerous for your body. But it'll still be in your system. You are going to be pretty sick later on. But there's nothing I can do about that unless you can get some kind of antidote.' Shukaku rumbled at him.

Gaara merely nodded before snapping his hands together and unlocking a piece of Shukaku's power. He felt hot energy flowing through him, mostly down to his leg now and felt the demon fighting to heal the injury on his leg. Once the pain was somewhat gone, the young Kazekage opened his eyes and looked over at Naruto and Orochimaru. He was surprised to see that Orochimaru had knocked Naruto right back towards the bridge. With a firm look on his face, he began running as fast as he could, hoping that Shukaku could hold back the poison from spreading through his body.

Quickly, he was back at the bridge, looking over at Naruto, who still had the sword pierced through the chest and not moving for a moment. He also caught sight of Sakura standing in between Yamato and Kankuro, which brought some relief. But he knew that he couldn't concentrate on them right now. He had to help Naruto first.

However, as he started to take a step over, the creature grabbed the sword in his chest and yanked it right out, throwing off to the side, which went flying right at Sakura, Yamato and Kankuro. Gaara stiffened before he saw all three leap out of the way in time. Either way, the rest of the bridge had been destroyed. He also saw Kabuto had moved out of the way, while listening to the haunting sound of the creature's roars. It was the worst sound that Gaara had ever heard.

"Will you look at that..." Kabuto said chuckling as he stood up. "I guess he wanted to save Sasuke badly enough to end up like that. He's turned into a real monster." He didn't even seem to realize that his words were hurting Sakura so badly that she was close enough to crying. But Gaara saw it. He saw the tears flooding her eyes as she looked at Naruto painfully. "Right now, he's not even conscious...what a sad kid..."

And then Sakura began running.

"Sakura! No! You can't go near Naruto right now!" Yamato yelled after her.

Even Gaara and Kankuro looked after her with shock. They both took a step after her but then stopped as she began yelling for Naruto. "Naruto! This...that's enough! I'll save Sasuke for you!" Sakura cried with tears flowing down her cheeks. "So, Naruto! It's enough! You don't need to...!"

Suddenly Gaara was moving very quickly for he saw the creature growl at her before swinging one of its tails. He also saw Yamato snapping his hands together to help but it was the red haired Kazekage, who wrapped his arms around Sakura protectively when the tail came whipping out at them. It was, however, a little too late. The tail sliced right into Sakura's arm, making her scream in pain as she fell against Gaara, who kept a firm grip on her. His sand shield was doing it's best to protecting her from any more damage as the tail kept on swinging at her.

But strong wooden beams began to shoot out of the ground and wrap around the creature Naruto had become, binding him as best as they could. The creature let out a growl as it began struggling to get loose.

Gaara quickly dropped down by Sakura's side, holding her close to her and watching her as she writhed in pain. The hot red energy the demonic fox possessed was causing her so much pain. He didn't like to hear her crying against him and clutching her arm. But then his attention was on Kabuto as he was coming up to them. Glaring at him and covering Sakura's body protectively, he dared the medic to come near her. But before Kabuto could get too close, a root came streaking out of the ground and wrapped around his arm and leg, trapping him.

"Now, now. You're jumping to conclusions. I no longer mean you any harm. Quite the contrary..." Kabuto said smirking over his shoulder at Yamato and Kankuro as they gave him a look of warning.

"Touch her and I will kill you." Gaara growled threaten at him as he had his sand swirling around them both and he held Sakura even closer to him. But then he frowned when he saw the wound on Sakura's arm starting to sizzle like it was on fire. Sakura let out a cry in pain as she grabbed a fistful of Gaara's pants and clutched it tightly as if trying to release the pain. He could tell that she was in a lot of pain. "Sakura..." He muttered with concern.

"Your side and mine have something in common..." Kabuto stated as he looked down at Sakura, who's face was twisted with pain. "Akatski's a thorn in our side. As I see it, if we let you live, there's a chance that you might take out another Akatsuki member for us." He paused as the creature only got louder and the wood started to crack. "That said, it was you brought that thing here. So you're the ones who'll have to do something about it." He remarked before he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Gaara's head jerked up when he saw that the creature was now breaking loose from Yamato's little prison. He wrapped his arms tighter around Sakura, frowning darkly up at the fox. He knew that it was Naruto but he felt a hate for Kyuubi. It had caused her pain. "No more." He growled before lifting a hand and thrusting it towards the creature. "Sand Coffin!" He yelled.

Sand began shooting up and wrapping around the creature, which made Sakura gasp within his arms and look up at him with horror. "Gaara! No!" She begged reaching out and clutching his outstretched arm.

"Hokage Submission Jutsu!" Yamato shouted before he leapt forward and slammed a hand through the sand, touching the creature's hand with his hand.

There was a huge explosion all around them, yet Gaara kept his eyes firmly on the creature his best friend became. He didn't look concerned at all as he just hand his sand keeping the monster bounded tightly. He watched as light surrounded it before the red skin of the creature exploded right off of Naruto, revealing his true form once again. He was once again Naruto Uzumaki, himself.

Then with a little wave of his hand, Gaara called back the sand, forming his gourd once again. He looked down at Sakura, who looked pretty surprised by what just happened until her face lit up as she realized what Gaara really had been up to. While she thought he was going to crush the creature Naruto had been with his Sand Coffin Jutsu, it was the fact he was just binding him so that Yamato could free him from the Kyuubi's hold. "Gaara...I..." She murmured sheepishly.

The young Kazekage reached up and touched her lips with his hand, giving her a soft look. He knew that she was trying to apologize for thinking that he was going to kill the creature. "I know." He whispered before helping her up to her feet.

And then he went down, hissing in pain.

"Gaara!" Sakura yelped as she quickly dropped down beside him, her hand wrapped around his arm. "Gaara, what's wrong?!"

Quickly, Kankuro was there beside her, looking down at his younger brother with concern, while Yamato also hurried over, frowning with alert. Gaara just shook his head as he touched his leg where Orochimaru's snake had bitten him. "Snake bite." He groaned. "One of Orochimaru's snakes bit me while attacking Naruto. It was poisonous but Shukaku's managed to stabilize the poison for now." He told them.

Sighing, Sakura shook her head as she began digging into her hip pouch and tugging at Gaara's pant leg. She pushed it up to his knee so that she could see the snake bite and winced a little. "Ouch. It must have been a pretty big snake." She murmured before pulling out a very familiar rosy pink flower. It was the desert flower that Gaara had given to her nearly two months ago. It was somewhat dried out but still quite alive. She gave Gaara a faint smile before plucking one of the rosy petals. "Here. Chew this. It's not tasty but it'll get rid of the poison." She reassured him. Gaara faintly smiled right back at her before he opened his mouth to let her stick the petal into his mouth. Sakura smirked at him, giving him a sly look but stuck the petal in between his lips, which closed around her finger. "Hey, be nice, Gaara. Don't do anything kinky in front of your brother." She warned him.

Of course, Gaara pulled a face as he released her fingers and gave his older brother a dark look who was grinning at the idea of his little brother doing something a little naughty right there. "Kankuro, go get Quoi. I think it's safe for him to join us now. I can't sense Orochimaru near by anymore. He and Kabuto has left." He told him.

"Okay. But don't do anything too bad until I get...ouch!" Kankuro had been saying until sand lashed out and slapped him in the back of the head. He was quickly moving away.

Sakura finally moved away from Gaara and went over to the fallen Naruto to check on him. She had a very grave look on her face as she laid him out on his back and started to heal him. She was very upset to see her and Gaara's best friend in such a sorry state. She even had tears starting to fill her eyes as she attempted to heal him. But a few minutes of healing him, she grimaced as if she felt a little irritated before gasping as her arm began to throb with pain.

Immediately, Gaara was at her side, touching the slash marks in her arm. He knew it was causing her some pain and he didn't like it. He tilted his head to the side as if looking for Shukaku. 'Shukaku, can we do something for her? You once said that if one Bijuu's energy touches another, they might be able to connect.' He thought.

'Yeah, but healing a wound that another caused, it's not entirely possible. It'll go away in time. Might leave a scar, but it'll stop hurting. She'll be fine. Just rub it. It should help with the pain a little.' Shukaku suggested.

Nodding with a sigh, Gaara began rubbing her wounded arm. He saw her glance up at him with a thankful smile, obviously it worked a little. But then her face saddened again as she looked down at Naruto's sweaty form. She, like Gaara and Yamato, knew he was hurting a little. Just by looking at that look on his face told them that it was hurting him. "Yamato-taichou," Sakura began making both of them look at her. "That Jutsu you stopped Naruto with just now...would you...would you be willing to teach it to me?" She asked, softly.

Gaara glanced up at Yamato to see what his reaction would be but he wasn't surprised to see the soft look on the ANBU captain's face, which clearly read that he couldn't. "I'm afraid I can't. You see, being compatible with Shodai-sama's cells, I'm the only person in Konoha who can use it. The ability to suppress the Kyuubi's Chakra by force. Still, as the lab experiment as I am, my powers will never measure up to the original's." He explained softly. It only made Sakura look sadly down at the blonde she was trying to heal. "You know that stone Naruto wears around his neck?" Yamato started up again, making Sakura look at him, as did Gaara. "It belonged to Shodai Hokage-sama. It's a Chakra crystal that responds to his Chakra alone. With it, you can control the power of the Jinchuriki." Those words even surprised Gaara as he looked at the blue crystal hanging around Naruto's neck. "It's said these powers are what let the First become Hokage in the first place. And it's also because of them that I was made your squad captain, see?"

"So, it's not only because of what Tsunade said to me." Gaara stated, catching Sakura's attention, while Yamato just glanced up at him. "You were assigned to watch over Naruto because you could control Kyuubi."

Yamato sighed but nodded. "You probably don't like that, do you? Controlling the Bijuu inside of Naruto like that, you probably don't like that at all." He said softly.

There was a very long silence as Gaara stared at him with somewhat hard eyes but they softened again. It was true he didn't like the idea of his best friend being controlled by anyone. It was like taking away his own free will. But then again...he had to admit with a sigh. Kyuubi was already doing that. "After seeing what Kyuubi tried to turn Naruto into, I don't think I mind as much. Naruto will understand when he finds out about this." He said softly.

"Same as always..." Sakura murmured, making Gaara and Yamato look at her. "I can only do the dumbest of things for Naruto." She added with a tear-filled smile. But Gaara knew very well that she was thinking herself weak and stupid again. He hated it when she did.

Yamato, however, merely glanced at the gash in her arm before looking away. "It's not what you do for Naruto that's important. It's how strongly you feel about him that counts." He said softly, which made Sakura's face light up a little. "Sakura...I can tell just by looking at you...the truth is...you..." He was saying.

And then Naruto shot up, groaning.

"Ow!" He groaned before end up lying back down and wincing as he rubbed his head. Both Gaara and Sakura's faces brightened to see how well he was doing now. He groaned a few times before sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to get rid of a crick in his neck. "Huh? What the...what happened to me?" He then noticed the tears in Sakura's eyes. "Why're you crying, Sakura?" He then got a very enraged look on his face as he stood up and began looking around. "That foul mouthed Sai hurt your feelings again, huh?! What did he say this time?! Butt Ugly?! Freak of nature?! THAT JERK!" He roared.

Gaara sweat dropped as he watched his best friend and shook his head as if he was looking at the biggest idiot on the planet.

'That's because he is.' Shukaku thought dryly.

WHAM!

Sakura slugged Naruto hard in the stomach, looking very irritated. "Moron. You came up with "Freak of Nature" on your own..." She growled at him.

Both Yamato and Gaara couldn't help but smile and shake their heads while Naruto doubled over, holding his stomach and groaning pitifully. They were just glad that he was okay now. But still, the thought of Sai made Gaara's face grow very cold. He remembered what that stupid emotionless prick had done to Sakura, or what he hadn't done. He still swore he was going to hurt him for that. He had already warned him about what would happened if Sakura got hurt because of him. Even though she hadn't, she very well near had.

"Oh! That's right! Yamato-taichou, Gaara! What did happen to Sai?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

Gaara's face only darkened at the thought of that ninja in black. "He let you fall of the bridge, that's what." He stated, making all of them glance at him. Naruto's face even started to darken. "He let you fall off the bridge and when he had the chance to save you, he didn't. Kankuro had to come into the mess and save you while Yamato-taichou and I were trying to keep the bridge from collapsing."

"Eh?! Kankuro?! He helped?! Where is he, anyway?!" Naruto yelped." What in the heck did I miss anyway?!"

Yamato, however wasn't paying very much attention to them. He was looking off to the side with a very serious expression on his face and it was too serious in fact. He looked as if he had just discovered something very serious. "I figured as much." He murmured, catching Gaara's attention and giving the ANBU a questionable look.

"Gaara!" Came Kankuro's voice, as he was running towards them, looking very pale. Everyone looked at him with concern as he hurried over. "It's Quoi! I can't find him! He wasn't where I left him!" The Puppet Master said with alarm. "He's gone!"

Gaara's face drained of all color, if any, as he stood up straight and looked wide eyed at his brother. "What?!"


	11. Chapter Ten

The boy in question as Kankuro had just warned his younger brother about being missing was actually hurrying through the forest path. After the explosions close by and the sinister feeling of Chakra in the air, Kankuro told Quoi to stay put. He told him that he was to not move from within the tree trunk where the Puppet Master had put him. And Quoi had every intention to listen.

That is until a giant snake came out of no where, slithering right by.

Startled, Quoi ran away from there, not wanting to getting eaten by a snake. He was terrified of snakes as it was. He remembered how he had nearly gotten bitten by a King Cobra once in the desert while with his father and his father had immediately chopped the snake's head off before he could get bitten by it. After that, he found himself wandering a little close to where he could hear the explosions.

And remembering what Master Gaara had said, Quoi sat down to wait right where he had stopped at, knowing he might get yelled at by Kankuro when he got back to find him several feet off course where he was suppose to be. But with a sigh, he'd deal with it.

But things changed a little than Quoi had expected. He heard the nasty explosions and felt the rumbling of the ground. And then he could not help it. He had to find out what was going on. He just had to make sure that Gaara was okay. And that was when he found a large tree right on top of a very deep ravine, serving as a bridge. He knew he shouldn't have, but he did. He crossed the tree and followed the explosions. He came very close to getting hit by a tree flying through the air though, which made him drop down and cover his head with a fearful yelp.

For a long time he listened to the battles, keeping his head covered, that is until they died down. Quoi frowned as he finally pushed himself to his feet and started walking, all the while looking around. 'Crap! I better not be lost!' He thought. 'How everyone would just laugh at me if I was.'

Soon enough, he finally found a clearing and to his astonishment, it wasn't just a clearing. It was a huge crater. Something had destroyed a big portion of the forest.

But...on the other side of the crater, Quoi saw Sai. He frowned when he saw him with someone else other than Master Gaara, Naruto and the others. He could only wonder what he was doing with that creepy pale man and the four eyed dork, as he had thought of Kabuto. He didn't know who they were, since he had not been allowed to watch what happened at the bridge. But still, he wondered why Sai was with these guys instead. He watched them for a long time until the three of them turned and started hurrying out of the crater.

'Where is Sai going?' Quoi thought to himself before he glanced around, hoping to spot Master Gaara. He knew that if Sai was there, Master Gaara had to be. But still, he couldn't see his master. And Sai was getting away. 'I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow. I'm not going to follow...' He thought continually before his face fell and he slapped his forehead. 'Oh, Master Gaara is so going to kill me.' He thought before he was quickly making his way around the crater. He had to run around the crater, knowing that if he ran across the crater, which would have been the quickest way, Sai or the other two men turned around and saw him. And he wasn't too sure if he wanted that. So he ran around. 'Besides, maybe Master Gaara is following them too.' He reassured himself.

However, he had a feeling that he would regret this later.

Quoi found himself following after Sai and the other two ninja deeper into the forest, though he was starting to hesitate. He didn't like this too much. There was something wrong, and he could feel it. His mind was racing of why Sai was with these two and not with his master and the members of Team Kakashi. A few times he glanced over his shoulder back the way he had come. He really hoped he was doing the right thing by going after Sai. He could only hope that Master Gaara was close by, doing the very same thing as he was. And he surely hoped that he wouldn't get into trouble for this. But where on earth was Master Gaara anyway and where was Sai going?

There were times like this that Quoi wished he wasn't so curious about things. It was his curiosity that was driving him to following Sai to find out where he was going. He felt his skin crawl a little as he followed Sai and the two men deeper into the forest, away from the bridge. 'Master Gaara, please be close by and following Sai too. Because I really don't want you to hate me for doing this.' He thought almost pleadingly.

Gaara swore he was about to have a panic attack after listening to Kankuro explain how he had left Quoi inside of a tree trunk, telling him not to move. He listened to Kankuro explain how he just went back to that tree trunk and found the kid not there. Kankuro didn't leave anything out at all. He simply told his younger brother that he began yelling for Quoi's name and giving him the usual threats of how he was going to kick his butt for hiding from him. But as he continued to look for the kid, he began to feel a dread falling over him as he searched under bushes and rocks but couldn't find Quoi. The Puppet Master had even searched the entire area for his younger brother's student. But Quoi had been no where to be found.

That was when he had his own panic attack and raced back to the bridge as fast as he could.

After that explanation, the young Kazekage quickly sent out his sand in search for his student and concentrating very hard on not to freak out. He could feel Sakura stand close by, looking up at him with worry while Yamato and Naruto stood a little ways off, watching for a minute. But then Gaara opened his eyes, looking pained. "I caught his scent. He's on this side of the ravine, somewhere. I believe we may find him over at the clearing." He told him before he was already hurrying back to the large bald spot in the forest where Naruto had been fighting Orochimaru. The others quickly followed, yet Yamato had a very troubled look on his face.

The ANBU Captain tilted his head, looking very uneasy before he turned sharply and looked at the others. "Sai is with Orochimaru." He announced, making everyone look at him with surprise. But he motioned them to keep going towards the large clearing.

"Hey, what clearing in the fore..." Naruto had been asking with confusion until he saw the huge clearing. "Whoa! What in the hell happened here?"

No one really paid too much attention to him. They were too busy looking around the large clearing, though Kankuro was wondering the very same thing as him. He looked around with astonishment and shock before glancing side wards at Naruto with a look of horror. 'That block head did all of this?!' The Puppet Master had thought to himself. But then he followed after Gaara as he began quickly looking around, hoping to spy Quoi.

Yamato, Sakura and Naruto, however, went over to the center where there Orochimaru had once been lying but it was obvious that he wasn't there anymore. There was a large black spill of ink, which clearly had been Sai's. A few of Sai's belongings were still laid out on the dirt but there was no sign of him or anyone else. Not even Quoi. Yamato, however, turned back to Naruto, giving him a frown. "You remember nothing?" He asked, thoughtfully. Even Sakura and Kankuro looked at Naruto, though they kept glancing over at Gaara as he scanned the entire area carefully and even sending out his sand to try and locate him.

The blonde looked at him but shook his head but his face lit up a little with a thought. "Oh, yeah. How come I was unconscious and all?" He asked, looking around at everyone, hoping to get some kind of answer.

No one answered for a long time as they stared him. Even Gaara had to tear his eyes away from the scenery around him and look over at his best friend. He saw Sakura's face turn away with a look of sadness but then she shook her head. "Orochimaru got to you and left you unconscious." She lied to him. Gaara's own face turned down ward with a hint of sadness. He knew very well that Sakura was trying the fact that Naruto had nearly lost complete control over Kyuubi and had nearly killed her. He knew that would hurt the blonde pretty bad. Although, Gaara did not hold a grudge against Naruto for what happened, he swore he would not let it happen again.

"So that's it?! Damn him!" Naruto bellowed in rage.

But Sakura didn't look at him again but then she blinked as something caught her eye. She frowned for a second before moving over to one of the abandoned scrolls and bent over it. She reached down and picked something up which caught Gaara's attention too. He frowned as he tilted his head to the side before moving closer. To his surprise, it was Sai's brother's book. "Sai's things are scattered on the ground." Sakura said with a frown.

"He dropped those things and left them there, that's all." Yamato explained placing a hand onto his waist and making everyone look over at him. "I guess even he couldn't keep his cool standing before Orochimaru."

Everyone frowned at the ANBU captain thought Gaara returned to looking around and trying to locate Quoi. He just had to find his student. He couldn't care less about Sai. The ninja had nearly gotten Sakura killed by not saving her when he had the chance. Sakura, however, looked directly at Yamato, frowning with concern. "You know what happened, right?" She asked, tilting her head.

Yamato was quiet for a minute but then he slowly nodded as he looked off to the side. "A Wood Clone of mine was here until a several moments ago. We'd been communicating through a rapid transmitter I hid here." He explained. That got Gaara's attention. He turned around and looked at Yamato with a surprised frown. He was about to ask if his clone had seen Quoi then but Sakura beat him to it by asking what happened to Sai. Yamato merely glanced over at Gaara, as if he knew what his question would have been but he shook his head and chose to answer Sakura's first. "Sai...After a discussion with Orochimaru, he followed them back." He answered.

"Whaddya mean?" Naruto asked the question that was going through everyone's minds.

"What exactly did Pasty discuss with Orochimaru?" Kankuro asked frowning and folding his arms across his chest.

Yamato just shook his head as he looked away into the trees. "Seems it was too far for my clone to listen in, so I can't really tell. As for your student," he turned his eyes back onto Gaara. "My clone didn't see him but it sensed him. He was here for a minute. But I believe he might have seen Sai and followed after him, thinking that he was with you. Quoi could be thinking that we forgot about him for a moment and thought we'd taken off without him. I'm surprised that Sai hasn't noticed that he's following after them yet."

"Sai might have been taken by force though." Sakura suggested though there was even a look of doubt on her face.

Yamato shook his head as he looked right at her. "No. Didn't seem like it. He approached Orochimaru all on his own and handed him something." He told them.

That made everyone freeze and look at the Wood Manipulator with alarm. Gaara felt his entire body nearly freeze over before his face darkened and he gritted his teeth. He knew what that could only mean one thing. Sai was betraying them. Naruto shook his head as he held up a hand, looking wide eyed at Yamato. "Hold on a second! Sure he's a jerk and all but he wouldn't betray...!" He was crying out.

"No." Sakura said, lowering her head, looking very stern. "He just might." She kept her eyes on the ground.

The young Kazekage, however, frowned as he tried to think about why Sai would hand anything over to Orochimaru but then his face went even darker. He knew that this must have been what Danzo was up to. Sai had been under the Elder's orders and this was probably what he ordered Sai to do. To give Orochimaru some kind of information. "Danzo." He couldn't help but growl. He was very aware that both Kankuro and Sakura glanced over at him with some surprise.

"Yamato-taichou," Sakura said thoughtfully seeming to have thought the very same thing as Gaara before she turned her eyes onto the ANBU captain. "This Danzo person..."

Yamato turned his head away but folded his arms as he let out a low sigh. "I know him...The hawkish leader who stood in opposition of the Third Hokage." He said before meeting eyes with Gaara, whose face only darkened even more.

"Exactly who is this Danzo, anyway?" Kankuro asked narrowing his eyes as he too glanced over at Gaara.

Gaara let out a low sigh as he closed his eyes and folded his arms. He figured it was time to explain a few things now to his two best friends and his brother. He knew that it was going to come out sooner or later now that Sai had betrayed them. "He's Sai's superior. An Elder who thought of the Third Hokage as a fool." His words didn't surprise Sakura though, he noticed. "Sai follows his orders and does what Danzo tells him to do." He explained quietly.

Yamato nodded looking just as grave. "It's quite possible Danzo is relying on Sai to set plans of his own into motion." He said rubbing his chin but then he lift his head and looked directly at Gaara, as if sharing this with mostly him. "Perhaps Danzo entrusted Sai with a top secret mission that has nothing to do with our own." He said, being very careful of how to let Naruto, Sakura and Kankuro know this. He knew Gaara would catch on.

"So, you're saying Sai was on a completely different mission from ours from the beginning..." Naruto asked, sounding very confused.

Gaara let out a sigh and shook his head as he looked right at Yamato. "I think it's best to tell them now, Yamato-taichou. They have to know." He told the ANBU.

With a sigh, Yamato nodded and looked seriously at the other two. His face was so grave it was almost scary. "What I'm about to tell you is no more than a conjecture upon conjecture. But it's not out of the realm of possibility so...brace yourselves." He paused for a minute before dipping his head lower. "Danzo could well be intending to destroy Konoha as we know it." His very words stunned Sakura and Naruto, as well as Kankuro.

Gaara looked just as grave as Yamato but shook his head as he looked around at the other three. "The true reason I am apart of this mission is because Tsunade didn't trust Danzo's little spy, which happens to be Sai. She asked me to be apart of this mission to keep an eye on Sai and make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious, which I have gravely failed at. She believes that Danzo is conspiring against her."

"What?!" Naruto yelped.

Yamato shook his head as he merely glanced from Gaara over to Naruto and Sakura. "Suppose that...in order to remove Tsunade from the position of Hokage, he intends to conspire with Orochimaru to attack the Village. It will be exactly like the death of the Third all over again. When the Sound conspired with the Sand." His eyes flickered over to Kankuro, who flinched a little at the memory of that.

Sakura, however, caught on and had a stunned look on her face. "So that he can build his 'ideal' Konoha from the former's ashes...and once again take center stage, but this time as Hokage."

"And the reason he's making his move now...may be that Danzo, having witnessed Orochimaru fail in his previous attack on Konoha, feels that the latter's now in position where he's willing to bargain." Yamato added.

Slowly Naruto shook his head, looking horrified but angry. "No...no way! Then Sai's top secret mission's..."

"To earn Orochimaru's trust and serve as a liaison between him and Danzo." Both Sakura and Gaara said at the very same time, which had been a little creepy as it was. But they knew very well that it would serve the exactly effect that they knew they were going to get. Both Naruto and Kankuro looked alarmed but angry.

Yamato just shook his head as he looked around at everyone. "Depending on the circumstances, we might have to dispose of Sai." He explained, which just made everyone look very serious. They all knew that if Sai really was betraying Tsunade, it had to be done. Truthfully, Gaara had no problem with it. His concern was mostly on his student. "My Clone is following them right now, but there's no way of knowing what will happen. We have to get on their trail at once." Yamato added.

"Yamato-taichou," Gaara said in a very serious tone as he met the Captain's eyes. "Is there anyway you can get your clone to see if he find Quoi while doing so? I can't let Quoi get hurt. He's my sole responsibility and if anything were to happen to him..."

Yamato only nodded. "I will have try and have it locate your student. But it might be a little difficult having it do so and follow Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sai at once. But I will do what I can." He tried to reassure him, gaining on a satisfied nod from the young Kazekage.

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto bellowed now taking a step forward but then he fell flat on his face.

Both Gaara and Sakura looked at him with alarm before hurrying over to him, picking him up a little and looking him over with concern. They both glanced at one another with a sigh when they only saw that he was out cold. They knew very well that he hadn't recovered just yet from his fight. Sakura turned a little and looked worriedly up at Yamato. "I know it'd be best to start the pursuit right away but...in the shape he's in right now, Naruto..."

Yamato sighed but shook his head. "In that case, we'll leave him behind. He should have enough strength to get back to the village on his own." he stated.

That just gained him a very dirty look from Sakura as she gave him a look of outrage and disgust. Even Gaara had to shoot him a look but he knew very well that Yamato was thinking about the seriousness of the situation. And when Sakura opened her mouth to start shouting at him, starting with mention Kakashi, he didn't move to interrupt. But Naruto sure did. He opened one of his eyes and smiled up at her. "Don't worry about me...I'm good to go." He told her.

"I was teamed with Kakashi in the ANBU before. I'm well aware of how he is. It's true I'm filling in for him, but we're different, he and I." Yamato began to say, though he was being very serious. "I'll pass on saying, 'I won't let you guys get hurt!' with a smile. You're no longer apprentice ninja to be protected. You're Shinobi who'll sooner or later have to surpass Kakashi and sustain Konoha on your shoulders." He shook his head but let out a sigh. "It's one thing to be compassionate and another to be indulgent. If we don't follow now, we're not going to catch Orochimaru again. We hesitate now and it's all over. With Orochimaru, there are no second chances."

There was a very long silence as everyone stared up at him or looked down at the ground. They all knew he was right. They knew that this wasn't the time to hesitate or even stop for a breather. They had to push their selves to the limit right now. The entire Leaf Village was depending on them to save them from Orochimaru for a second time. Sakura still looked pretty upset about having to push Naruto though. And that was enough for Kankuro to grow very serious before he stepped forward and bent down next to her as he grabbed at Naruto's arm, picking him up and placing his arm around his neck. "Come on, blockhead! If I have to, I'll carry you all the way!"

Sakura and Naruto looked up at him with surprise but Gaara smirked as he folded his arms and shook his head. He could only trust Kankuro for that. But his face grew firm again as he turned and looked off into the distance. He still felt extremely worried about Quoi. 'Quoi, don't do something stupid.' He thought worriedly.

Quoi was having a very hard time keeping up. He could see Sai a little far ahead but he knew better than to move too close. He didn't want to attract attention. He still felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising up and he knew that was not a good sign at all. He remembered a lesson from Master Gaara about when the hairs raise on the back of your neck, it only meant danger was close by.

And as he kept running, he soon found out why.

For as Quoi broke through some trees and into a little clearing, he came running right into someone. Colliding with that someone, he yelped as he felt himself push that someone then went crashing to the ground. He quickly pushed himself into a crouch and looked wide eyed up at who he just ran into. He was surprised to see that it was just Sai.

"S-Sai?! Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you...Have you seen Master...Gaara...?" Quoi cut himself off for a few seconds when he realized that Sai had his back turned to him, yet he seemed to be dangling a little from a tree branch. Frowning, the boy stood up and stared up at Sai's back. "Sai?" He then reached out to touch his arm. "Hey...Sai? Are you okay..." He was saying. That is until he touched Sai's arm and felt how cold he was. Not to mention, Sai moved easily as if he was hanging on the branch. Quoi saw that he was.

Sai had been hung.

Shocked and terrified, Quoi leapt back away from Sai's body, tripping over his own feet. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that Sai was hanging before him with a rope around his neck, looking dead. He felt his entire body grow very cold before he shook his head with fear in his eyes. He heard the noise rise from within him before he let out a shout of fear. He couldn't help but let out his terrified scream. He had just touched a dead body and it had been Sai's! He knew that it must have been those two that had been with Sai before. They must have killed him. "SAI!" He shouted with shock as tears filled his eyes.

"Well, well, well. So this is what has been following us?" came a very amused but cold voice.

Quoi froze before he whirled around to see who just spoke, only to freeze again with shock. His eyes landed right on Sai who was standing right next to the tall, pale man and the four eyed dork. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There were two Sais. His head jerked back towards the dead Sai before he looked back up at the three standing before him. "S-Sai...what's going on? Where's Master Gaara?! Who are these guys?!"

Both of the two men blinked once before looking at the pale ninja in black with interest. "Master Gaara...? Sai, who exactly is this boy?" The tall pale man asked with a smirk on his face.

Sai's dark eyes just gazed right into Quoi's, looking very serious. He didn't answer for a long time as he just stared at Quoi before he turned his head away from the boy. "He's Gaara's apprentice. He wasn't even suppose to be with us but the little idiot followed our team because he cared too much about his master." He stated blankly.

Highly amused, the pale man turned his yellow eyes onto Quoi, who scampered to his feet and was looking at Sai with shock. A cold smirk curled onto the serpentine ninja's mouth before he let out his long tongue and licked his pale lips as if he was hungry for Quoi's very own flesh. "Well, well. The One Tail's student. How surprising. I didn't know that that monster would have picked up a little mouse as an apprentice. And he made the mistake of following us, didn't he?" He then folded his thin arms across his chest, grinning wickedly. "I think it best if we bring this little mouse along. He'll make an excellent test subject for later experiments. And perhaps we can use him as a warning to that sand monster that if he wants him back alive, he'll stop following me." He then waved a hand to the gray haired ninja next to him.

Quoi knew for an instant that the monster that this man was talking about was his master. And he would have started yelling at him in rage for calling Master Gaara a monster if not for the fact that the later words had just left him cold. 'Test subject? Experiments?' He thought before he slowly shook his head. He added up those words pretty well especially with the threat about warning Gaara that if he wanted him back alive. He knew that Sai was no friend of his master's or Naruto's, or Sakura's. With a yelp of fear, he turned and tried to bolt away back the way he came. He was not going to stay there if that man was going to threaten him like that old man had. He knew that he needed to get back to Master Gaara as fast as he could. His master would protect him from this guy.

But as soon as he took a few steps, he felt a hand slap onto his shoulder and grab a fist full of his shirt. It didn't take him a mere few seconds to realize it was the Four-eyes. "Let go of me!" Quoi yelled as he whirled around and launched a kick right into the gray haired young man's shin. His foot connected with the Four-eyes' leg, which seemed to surprise the Ninja before he realized that hurt.

"Ow!" Kabuto yelled as he released the boy's shirt and grabbed his leg where he'd been kicked. He couldn't believe that kid had kicked so hard and it had actually hurt him. But that was the least of his worries. The kid had bolted.

As soon as the Four-eyes had let go of him, Quoi was running as fast as he could away from him. He was not going to stay there. Not after that threat. But it was to his shock and alarm, he didn't get too far. For something caught him around the ankles and he went flying face down into the dirt. He let out a yell of fear before turning sharply to see what had caught him. To his shock and alarm, it was a very long slimy tongue protruding from the pale man's mouth, and it was clearly long enough to catch him while its owner was standing a fair fifteen feet away, smirking at him. "AHHHHHH!" Quoi couldn't help but cry out before trying to kick the tongue off of him.

Amused, Orochimaru dragged the boy back with his tongue before lifting him into the air about five feet off the ground, which had the boy very startled. He just tilted his head as he smirked up at him. "Amusing little boy the Tanuki has picked up. I think I will like you. Maybe if we experiment on you enough we can create the perfect little monster out of you. If we're successful, we might just be able to possess the First Hokage's power after all."

"Sai! Sai! Please, help me!" Quoi begged as he squirmed in the air, flapping his arms as if he could fly, which didn't help at all. His eyes full of terrified tears looked directly Sai, who was watching him through blank eyes.

There was a long pause as Orochimaru glanced side wards at the ninja next to him, waiting to see what his reaction would be. He only smirked as Sai looked blankly at the hanging boy before looking away from him with stony look on his face. He knew very well that his new companion would not help the boy, which the kid seemed to realize.

"You shouldn't have followed me, Quoi. You'd been safer with Gaara. But you're a fool." Sai said stiffly before turning his back onto Quoi. "Do as you will with him, Orochimaru-sama. I don't care what happens to him. He is only a nuisance."

Quoi looked as if his world just shattered right before his eyes and he stared at Sai with shock and hurt. He slowly shook his head before he ended up yelping as the snake like man, Orochimaru released him from his tongue and let him drop right on his head. He hit the ground rather hard, smacking his arm on a rock and cutting the skin pretty badly but his worries was mostly on what was going to happen to him as the Four-Eyes roughly grabbed his arms and yanked them behind his back, now binding them together. "NO! Let go of me!" He begged. "Master Gaara, help!

"Might as well gag our little mouse as well, Kabuto." Orochimaru said also turning away. "He'll attract unwanted attention by yelling like that."

Kabuto nodded with his teeth gritted. He was pretty peeved with this little brat for kicking him so hard but he knew it was no good to sulk. So he just bound the boy's wrists tightly together before yanking out a cloth and tying it around the kid's mouth to stifle his yells. Once that was finished, he yanked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It didn't really help when the boy kept on squirming, which really irritated him.

"Hurry it up, Kabuto. I believe we have another pursuer closing in. He'll be here soon." Orochimaru said sharply now leaping for the tree. "The corpse should hold him back for a short time while we place distance between us."

So Kabuto took to the idea of pulling the boy off his shoulder before hitting him hard on the neck, hitting a pressure point and knocking him out. When the boy fell unconscious, he grunted with some satisfaction for causing the brat a little pain before he was slinging him back over his shoulder and hurrying after Orochimaru and Sai. He hated the fact that he had to carry the brat though. It just made him dislike Sai for getting out of any labor.

Team Seven was running through the trees as fast as they could, jumping limb to limb as they tried to hurry. They needed to find Yamato's Clone or Quoi, or even the trail that would lead them straight to Orochimaru's lair. They knew that if they didn't hurry, something bad was going to happen. Gaara was running along side with Sakura and Kankuro. He had a very worried look on his face as he thought about Quoi. He really hoped that his student was safe. But for some reason, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingling and even Shukaku was growling with worry. 'Shukaku?'

'This isn't good. I smell death and blood up ahead. The blood...' The sand demon cut off sounding very worried. 'It smells like Quoi's. I think he's hurt.'

That just brought a very cold chill right through Gaara and his eyes snapped wide open. That was something he did not want to hear at all. His mind was now racing to many thoughts of a mangled up body of the boy he had taken in and started to take care of since the death of his father and the fall of the Akatsuki at the Sand Village. His breath was hitching at the very thought and it caught the attention of Sakura and Kankuro as they were the ones running beside him while Naruto and Yamato had tried to take the lead.

"Gaara...?" Sakura asked with concern as she grabbed a hold of a branch to launch herself off towards another tree, only to wince as her arm started to throb and she ended up falling off the tree.

That caught everyone's attention and they all jerked around to see her falling towards the ground. It even yanked Gaara right out of his chaotic thoughts to look wide eyed down at her before launching after her. He heard Naruto yell out Sakura's name but he didn't hesitate for a second. He quickly reached her before she hit the ground and summoned out his sand to cushion their fall. Gaara held Sakura in his arms, looking at her with concern. "Sakura..." he said with worry and fear for her. Sakura grimaced but looked up at him weakly as she reached over and touched the markings on her arm, holding it as if it was in pain. He could only glance at it with concern before touching it with his cool hand.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelped as he jumped down from the trees and knelt beside his two friends. "Sakura, are you all right?! What happened?!"

But Kankuro moved forward and grabbed his shoulder and lightly tugged him back, giving him a sympathetic look. "Give 'em some room, Naruto." he told him. Usually, Naruto would have fought him but he did so when Gaara gave him a nod as he gently set Sakura down on the grass right next to him. He moved back just as Yamato joined them, looking just as concerned as the young men were. His eyes caught sight of the wound on her arm and he looked at it with worry.

Sakura must have seen it because she tried to put on a smile as she leaned against Gaara and cover the gashes with her other hand. "This...Orochimaru attacked me. But it only hurts a little. Don't worry about it." She tried to reassure Naruto.

But Naruto didn't look reassured at all. He just slowly shook his head as he stared at her. "Sakura, you shouldn't put yourself in danger like that." He told her firmly. He didn't even seem to realize that Sakura had just lied to him, even though she winced a little at his words. Gaara could only let his eyes flicker between his best friend and the love of his life, seeing how hurt Sakura was for having to lie to Naruto like that.

"Let's take a little break here." Yamato offered standing up straight, still looking concerned for the pink haired kuniochi. "Sakura is our only medical ninja, who is needed to successfully complete our mission."

Sakura gave him a sharp look as did Gaara but she shook her head as she tried to push her feet but Gaara held firm to her. He knew she needed a break as it was. She was pushing herself too hard and everyone knew it. "I'm fine..." She tried to tell them. "If we don't leave now...you even said..." She tried to say firmly.

Yamato turned slightly away but looked right at her with a faint smile. "While it's true that I did say that...but there is also the saying, 'Rushing only leads to disaster.' There is a difference between hurrying and rashness." He told them, sounding very much like a teacher but trying to show that he did care what happened to them.

"Yeah! Sakura is our only medical ninja with super strength! So we gotta take extra care of you!" Naruto said looking at her still with concern.

Sakura shot the blonde a dark look and jabbed a finger in his direction. "Enough with the super strength already!" She shouted at him.

"Sakura," Gaara spoke up quietly making everyone stop doing whatever they were doing. He just looked her right in the eyes, giving her a worried look. He shook his head as he tightened his hold on her when she continued to try and stand up. "Rest. You really need it. You've been working too hard today. Please, just sit still for a little while." He told her. Sakura stared at him for a minute but then she let out a sigh of defeat and nodded as she relaxed against him.

Yamato then turned away, waving to Naruto to follow him. "Naruto, for the remainder of the battle, I'll be taking Sai's place as your partner. While we have time, let's decide upon our attack pattern. Can you come over here for a bit?" He asked. Naruto nodded and hurried off with him, leaving Gaara to tend to Sakura and Kankuro to stand watch. However, as they had moved a fair distance away from them, Gaara heard Yamato turn to Naruto and tell him the truth of what happened at the bridge. He heard the captain tell Naruto that it had been him who hurt Sakura. The young Kazekage could only tilt his head to the side to see what Naruto's reaction was and he saw the shock and alarm on his face.

"Gaara," Kankuro spoke up now interrupting him. He waited till his younger brother looked up at him before he folded his arms and looked at him with a frown. "Just earlier, before Sakura collapsed, you went really pale..." He pulled a face. "Well, paler than usual and you looked like you just saw a ghost. What happened? Did Shukaku say something serious to you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Even Sakura was looking at Gaara with a concerned frown. She had remembered seeing that look on his face too.

Gaara stared right into Kankuro's eyes before he had to tear them away and look off into the trees with a stoic look, yet there was no doubt pain in his eyes. His brow furrowed a little as if he was in pain as he stared hard but that is until he felt Sakura's soft hand touch his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Shukaku said he smells Quoi's blood." He finally said, and that hand withdrew very quickly. He didn't have to look at his brother and girlfriend to see the shock and alarm on their faces. He just narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare off into the trees. "Quoi is hurt somehow. But Shukaku doesn't think it's too serious. It's just a little blood. He may have cut himself while following Sai."

"That is going to be a problem, Gaara. If Quoi is bleeding then Orochimaru might smell it too." Sakura said with worry. "He'll know that Quoi is following them."

Kankuro's face darkened at the thought of how serious the situation was becoming and even deep inside, he was feeling guilt. He knew he should have watched a closer eye on the kid. He felt as if this was his fault if Quoi was in serious danger. If he had watched him better than this wouldn't have happened. "I'm going ahead." He announced, making Sakura and Gaara look sharply at him. He didn't look at them as he turned away. "I have to find Quoi immediately and stop him before he gets caught by Orochimaru. If anything happens to him..." His voice started to break and that made Gaara realize that he was feeling the blame.

Gaara with drew his arm from around Sakura and he stood up to reach out and grab Kankuro's arm. He made his older brother turn to face him. "Kankuro, don't blame yourself..."

"Gaara, you know very well that it is my fault if he gets hurt. I should have watched him better at the Village, other wise we wouldn't be in this mess." Kankuro said sternly, looking Gaara right in the eyes. "I failed you by taking my eyes off of him to check out the Leaf girls and now I failed you again by leaving him alone when I shouldn't have." He lightly pulled his arm free from Gaara's grip. "And now I'm going to fix that problem. I'm going to go ahead and see if I can find him. And maybe I can find the trail. We're losing valuable time by just sitting here. One of us should go ahead. And I'm going. You just take care of Sakura and rest yourself." He told him.

There was a long pause as the brothers looked into each others but then with a deep sigh, Gaara dropped his hand to his side and he nodded. "Find him, Kankuro. Just find him." He said, quietly yet there was some pleading within his voice. "And be very careful. If I lose you like I almost did two months ago..." He couldn't really finish what he was saying. Kankuro smiled softly at him before he was suddenly gone in a black blur.

"Hey! Where's Kankuro going?" Naruto called as he and Yamato were slowly rejoining them. There was still a look of shock and guilt in his eyes as he glanced over at the wound on Sakura's arm but he shook himself out of those thoughts.

Gaara stared after Kankuro, watching him go. He knew that Kankuro was moving as quickly as he could to try and find Quoi and he knew that once he found him, his young apprentice would be safe once again. He could just hope that he wouldn't be too late. 'Please, Quoi. Be safe.' He begged within his own thoughts.


	12. Chapter Eleven

During the hour of resting, Gaara had been pacing back and forth, waiting for everyone to rest. He felt as if he couldn't concentrate very well after what happened earlier that day and what was happening with Quoi. He was having such a hard time trying to meditate because the images of Quoi ending up dead because he hadn't been careful. He didn't know what he would do if something really bad happened to Quoi. He would never forgive himself if the boy ended up dead. And he wasn't sure if Temari would either. He knew very well if Quoi ended up dead, Temari would break just as well as he would. She had grown to really care about him. She even called him little brother a few times. Quoi had practically become a part of their family.

"What's..." He heard Sakura speak up, making him turn and looked at her. "This book...?"

Gaara frowned before looking at the book she was holding and found that it was Sai's brother's book. She was looking through it but something seemed to have caught her attention about it. She was staring at with vague surprise, at some picture that he could barely see. Frowning even more, he moved closer to see it better. His eyes lit up to see what it was. He was surprised by what he and Sakura were looking.

"Hey!" Sakura called over towards Yamato and Naruto now, who had been looking at map and trying to come up with a plan of attack on Orochimaru. But immediately their attention was on them. "You two, check this out! Hurry!" Sakura called again.

Naruto and Yamato both stood up and hurried over to Gaara and Sakura who were still staring at the book with confusion. They bent down next to them and looked at the book with the two. And like them, they frowned with confusion. Naruto tilted his head to the side as he stared at the picture on the pages. "Just what is this picture..." He murmured very confused. "This is so very strange."

It was a picture of a boy who looked so much like Sai standing on the page, looking up at them. But there was such a blank look on the boy's face, which was exactly what Sai looked like. It was the same picture on the front cover though.

"So...Sai drew this." Yamato said tilting his head to the side.

Sakura shook her head as she began turning the pages, showing them more pictures that Sai had drawn. "But look. This book...the two pages in the center are very different from the rest. Here." She showed them another picture of Sai at the very center of the book. Gaara even frowned like the rest. The thing was about this picture, it was of Sai, yet there was no face. There were no eyes or nose or even a mouth. It was just blank. But the thing was about this Sai was he was holding out his hand to the center as if he was reaching for something. "These pictures on all of the rest of the pages are finished, it's just this one page that isn't."

"What about those other pages? If we can understand the content then we might be able to figure out something about Sai." Yamato said with a frown.

Sakura shook her head as she began turning the pages to the front and then began flipping through them slowly to get back to the center. "Well, it looks almost like it's the stories of two boys. The one on the front cover and the one on the back." She told them. "In other words, it works out so that the story of each of these boys starts with their respective cover and works its way towards the center. But the characters are silent and not a single word is written." She explained.

"But what's the story like then?" Naruto asked frowning.

Sakura shook her head as she glanced up at the blonde above her but flipped the pages up to the very first page. "Yeah...I don't really understand it that well...if you start with the black haired boy for instance then..." She paused to show them the first pages of the book and it revealed a drawing of the black haired boy facing off with some kind of monster with a skull like face. They were obviously fighting each other. But while the boy held no weapon, the enemy did. Then Sakura turned the page to the next. It was another picture of the dark haired boy facing a new monster. But there was something different about the boy. He now held a weapon. "The same boy is always on the right page, with the left side being a different person every page." She told them turning the page again. Gaara merely frowned as he narrowed his eyes at the boy on the page.

"Hey! Wait a second! Go back one page!" Naruto said loudly, sounding as if he had realized something. Sakura, Gaara and Yamato frowned at him but the pink haired girl did what Naruto told her to. She went back to the last page where Naruto leaned closer frowning as he studied the characters. But then his eyes brightened as he pointed. "I thought so...see the boy on this page...on the next page his outfit is a little bit different. Not just that but look." He pointed again as he turned the next page. "He's carrying the same weapon as the guy that was drawn on the last page."

And when Gaara, Sakura and Yamato looked they were surprised to see that he had a point. The boy was wearing the same outfit and carried the same weapon as his enemy as he faced a new opponent.

"I guess it's a story about a boy vanquishing his enemies one after the other then..." Yamato murmured.

Sakura turned the next page and it was another. This picture was the same as the ones before only with a new enemy and the boy was carrying the same weapon as the enemy before. Gaara could only frown as he narrowed his eyes at the book. He didn't understand exactly. He knew that the boy must have been Sai. It looked like him. But why was he fighting all of these enemies and then donning their weapons. "And yeah. The next one also...and the next."

"So two stories about boys growing up as they fight their enemies...then..." Yamato paused again.

Sakura flipped the book to the other side of a pale haired young man. This one was very different from the black haired boy and seemed to be just a little older too. "While it starts at the other end, the white haired boy has the same kind of story." She told them as she flipped through the pages and revealed the story was exactly like the others.

"Hey...don't you think that black haired kid looks like Sai?" Naruto said frowning.

Gaara merely glanced at his best friend, somewhat dryly. He couldn't believe that Naruto just barely noticed that. But still he frowned as he looked down at the picture of the white haired boy, wondering who that was. And even Sakura asked the question very quietly. But then he saw Sakura's eyes light up. "It might be...Sai's brother." She stated, making the three guys look at her in surprise. "And that would mean the boys on the covers are...Sai and his brother."

All four of them just frowned as they looked at the book rather thoughtfully. They wondered exactly why Sai had made this book and what its purpose was. It was enough to distract Gaara from his thoughts about Quoi, even though he was still a little worried about him. But then Yamato's head jerked up as if he had just received a message and he stood up straight. "Let's get going now. Looks like my Clone has been able to locate their base." he said, making all of them look at him with surprise but determination.

"And my apprentice? Have you managed to locate him yet?" Gaara asked very serious again, his mind returning to the thought about Quoi.

Yamato turned his head away from them as he tried to concentrate but then his face darkened as if he had gotten the answer. He lowered his head a little but then turned his creepy eyes onto Gaara, giving his head a light nod. "It appears...my Clone found a dead body." He held up a hand when Gaara's face went completely white and his eyes grew wide, as did Naruto's and Sakura's. The pink haired girl had actually gasped as she slapped her hand over her mouth as she looked up at Gaara with growing tears in her eyes. "No, no! It wasn't Quoi. It was a corpse meant to look like Sai, probably to distract my Clone. It worked for a brief moment but there's no sign of your apprentice. But there was a note left behind, attached to a tree not too far." The ANBU quickly explained. "As far as my Clone can tell, it's a note left by Orochimaru." His face grew grim. "He has Quoi and he says that if you want to see him again alive, you have to stop chasing him, Gaara."

Gaara's face only darkened before he balled up a fist so tight that his knuckles went snow white, all the while his teeth clenched tight.

Quoi's head hurt really bad as he found himself coming to finally. He could feel himself bobbing up and down a little, due to the fact that he was being carried by someone. It took him a very long minute to register what had happened to him. He almost didn't remember. But the images of a dead body that looked like Sai and then finding out that Sai was a traitor and then being captured by two obviously very psychotic Ninja came right at him from the back of his memory.

He remembered that he was now the prisoner of Sai's new friends, Orochimaru and Kabuto, whom he remembered being the enemy.

For a moment, Quoi didn't do anything but look around from his upside down point of view. He became aware of how dark it was now. They were inside some kind of building with cold stone walls all around them. There were no windows at all so he figured that they must have been underground somewhere. It sure smelled rather earthy, yet moist as well. There were sounds of dripping water too.

And then he heard a very cold voice, which almost made him jump but Quoi fought himself to not to. He just laid across the gray haired, Four-eyed freak's back and listened while trying not to breath too hard from panic.

"You're late." Came a very cold voice from somewhere behind him and in front of the three jerks who had taken him prisoner. "Orochimaru...did you forget about how you said you were going to teach me a new Jutsu this afternoon?"

Kabuto just made an annoyed huff as he shifted the boy laid over his shoulder, not registering that he just grunted from getting a little air knocked out from his lungs. "You fail to mind your mouth, as always." He said rather annoyed. And he felt a dark look get shot in his direction by a dark shadow within the shadows.

Orochimaru, however, chuckled as he shifted his weight and shook his head. "Oh, do calm down please." He said sounding very amused before motioning to Sai right next to him. "Instead of training, I happen to have come by a little present for you. He's a Shinobi from Konoha, just like you. I figured you could bathe yourself in nostalgia, talking about your old village..." He said with dark amusement.

And because Kabuto shifted his weight and turned slightly, Quoi was allowed to see who they were talking to.

Quoi's eyes had taken a minute to try and register where they were at, seeing only from the lights of candles lit on the walls. And when the Four-Eyes turned, he looked across the chamber like room to see a dark figure sitting against a large stone made snake head. The dark figure's eyes had been closed for a minute but when he, obviously a guy, opened his eyes, Quoi's very body froze when he saw a pair of blood red eyes gazing towards him and his three cruel captors. Those red eyes met his, and the head tilted a little to get a better look at him.

"Greetings. My name is Sai." Sai said, putting on his blank smile. "You must be Sasuke Uchiha..."

The dark figure turned his eyes away from the boy on Kabuto's shoulder and looked at Sai with such an icy look. "Get lost." He said very coldly.

The very voice made Quoi shudder, which surprisingly still didn't alert Kabuto that he was awake. Sai, however, let out a low sigh, his head dipping low. "Even when I force myself to smile, it seems I'm the type of person who ends up being hated." He lift his head up again and looked right at the dark figure called Sasuke Uchiha. "And Naruto-kun didn't seem to care much for me the whole time too." There was a pause before Sai tried to sound cheerful again. "But you know...in comparison to Naruto...I think I'm going to be able to get along better with you." He finished.

There was another pause before there came a low rumble within the room. Quoi wasn't exactly too sure what happened that very next minute because Kabuto had turned again. But he saw Sai flinch before he fell backwards and landed hard onto his rear end. Quoi would have laughed if he wasn't so scared though.

"Sasuke!" Kabuto yelled at him, his grip loosening a little on Quoi, but he was ignored.

Orochimaru was smirking though as he looked down at Sai who wiped his forehead, removing sweat from his brow, who seemed kind of surprised to see that he was sweating. "It'd be a good idea not to tease Sasuke too much. You see, he's even harder to deal with than I am." He warned the young ninja in black.

There was a sound of shuffling and Quoi was allowed to see the dark figure again, seeing that he was pushing himself to his feet, not really paying too much attention to them anymore. "And I don't care to deal with trash like him. Orochimaru, it's time for training now." Sasuke Uchiha said darkly though he turned his strange red eyes back onto Quoi on Kabuto's back, who was looking fearfully at him.

"Naruto told me quite a bit about you." Sai said, getting Sasuke's attention once again as he stood up. "It seems he's been looking for you all this time. For the last three years."

There was a snort from the dark before the dark figure called Sasuke shook his head, seeming to be very un-amused. "Oh yeah. I guess I do remember someone like that." He then turned his blood red eyes back onto Quoi, who was stalk still and looking at him with fear. Those red eyes narrowed before they flickered back over to Sai when he took a step forward again.

"Naruto considers..." Sai began quietly. "He considers you to be almost his own true brother. That's what I heard from Sakura."

The dark figure was quiet for a very long time before he turned his head slightly towards Sai, the light catching his face a little. "My brother...I only have one...a certain guy I want to kill." He said very coldly. And it was cold enough to make even Quoi shudder. He didn't understand how this guy could want to kill his own brother. His shudder seemed to attract the dark figure's attention again and he lift his head before letting those red eyes flicker over to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru...what's with the kid?" He asked coldly.

Quoi quickly shut his eyes when he saw the tall thin man turn in his direction. He didn't want that man to realize that he was awake, fearing that he might do something to him if he found out. He knew that the Sasuke guy was aware he was awake but he hadn't blown his cover just yet. And he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to. Sasuke Uchiha didn't seem to have any respect for the tall thin man at all. "Oh, this?" The serpentine ninja chuckled before he moved closer and grabbed Quoi's chin and lifting his head. It took a lot of will power not to flinch. And while at it, the serpentine ninja pulled off the cloth around his mouth. "This charming little mouse is going to participate in one of my experiments. We found him following us. It appears that he's your old team mate's student." He said chuckling with a hiss. "Though, now and then you can use him as a target for some of your Jutsu. We can always have our dear medic here heal him." He said as he dropped Quoi's head back against Kabuto's back.

"Heh, I'd rather just make him into one of my corpses. He's probably not even worth the effort, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said jabbing Quoi hard in the leg.

And Quoi didn't like that, nor did he like the insult. He had spent most of his life getting called worthless by the Sand Ninja of Sunagakure and he wasn't about to let this Four-Eyed freak do it either. So with a great amount of anger swelling within his chest, he let his eyes snap open before he lashed out and grabbed Kabuto's long pony tail, yanking it hard. He got the desired effect he had hoped for. The gray haired ninja let out a yell of pain before he practically dropped the boy onto the ground. Quoi wasn't exactly finished yet with punishing this freak. He kicked out very hard with his heel and slammed his foot right into the Four-Eyes' knee cap, which gave him a satisfying snap. Obviously, Quoi had just broken the gray haired freak's knee.

Of course, Kabuto let out a yell of pain as he staggered back and covered his knee with his teeth gritted with pain. He couldn't even stop another yell of pain while everyone else was watching the whole fray. Orochimaru was actually finding it very amusing and he hid his grin behind his thin hand while Sai watched blankly.

Even in the dark, Sasuke smirked as he watched the pain this little boy just put the big bad medical genius in. He had to admit it, but he was now amused with the boy.

"Why you little...!" Kabuto yelled in rage at Quoi who was trying to get to his feet. He limped forward quickly before swinging a hand and backhanding the boy hard across the face. The very impact sent Quoi flying several feet away from him and the gray haired Ninja followed after raising a hand, which now was glowing a fiery blue.

Quoi, of course, couldn't help but stumble back away from him, ignoring the pain in his cheek as he rose an arm to shield himself. He had to admit it but that gray haired guy was now pretty scary because he was so angry. So he just let out a yell of fear. "No! Don't hurt me, please!" He begged as he scooted back further away from Kabuto.

His pleas seemed to effect Sasuke though. His smirk was gone and his head came up a little as he stared down at the boy's terrified face. That was a face he seemed to recognize, or at least the expression at least. For a brief second, he saw his child self in this boy's place, cowering under his older brother, Itachi, who had been covered in blood after murdering their parents. Frowning, he lift his head higher and took a step forward and right over the boy to stand in between Kabuto and him. His action made Kabuto's hand stop short before he could slice it right into the cold tempered young man in front of him. "I think that will be enough, Kabuto." Sasuke said coldly.

Kabuto somewhat glared at him for interfering though before he dropped his eyes onto the cowering boy behind the dark figure in between them. "Sasuke, that little brat just broke my knee cap! Move!" He demanded.

And for that demand, the red eyes flashed dangerously at the gray haired ninja, who drew back immediately, knowing he had done wrong by demanding Sasuke Uchiha of anything. Almost for the briefest moment the air felt so cold, ice cold to every one of the occupants' skin. Even Quoi was shuddering in fear.

"That will be enough now." Orochimaru said seeming to find a lot of amusement about the entire situation. He just met eyes with Kabuto who jerked around to look into his eyes. But he just shook his head as he waved a hand. "Kabuto-kun, why don't you just to your lab and take care of that knee, of course, after you show our new friend here," He motioned to Sai, who had been watching Quoi with a frown. "To his new room." He then pulled out a large envelope and held it out to Kabuto. "Also, use these to compile a Bingo book. As for our new little toy," He let his yellow eyes flicker over to Quoi who flinched under his gaze. "Sasuke, you wanted to train. And our new toy needs a punishment for being so naughty to our Kabuto-kun." he grinned almost evilly. "Why don't you just play with this little mouse for a while and teach him a lesson about manners? Try out some of those new Jutsu you learned. It'll give you something to do for now. I, on the other hand, have some other manners to attend to." He then turned and walked away.

Sasuke made a growl in the dark as he glared at Orochimaru's back through the dark but then he jerked around and looked coldly down at Quoi, who cringed under his fiery red gaze. "This is such a waste of my time." He growled but bent down and wrapped an ice cold grip around Quoi's arm, yanking him to his feet. It was hard enough to make him yelp in pain but had no choice but to follow after the obviously not so nice ninja. He had to pause to turn sharply around and yank out a Katana he had strap to his back. That really made Quoi freeze up with fear. But instead of striking him, Sasuke turned him sharply and cut the bonds around his wrists without even cutting him. Then he wrapped his cold hand around his wrist, almost too tightly and yanked him after him out of the room.

Quoi, however, made a quick glance over his shoulder over at Sai, who was watching and he was surprised to see for only the briefest second, there was pity in the usually emotionless ninja's dark eyes as he watched him get yanked out of the room.

Not too long of being yanked and pulled down a long corridor, and Quoi ended having to nearly run to keep up with the cold ninja holding onto him, he was surprised to see what Sasuke looked like when light finally shone on his face. He wasn't even much older than his Master Gaara. He was actually the same age, with raven black hair with a tint of blue within the strains. His eyes were very dark now, with no hint of red as there had been not too long ago. He was wearing a pale gray-white shirt that was opened at the front and revealing his four pack stomach and he was wearing black pants under a violet scarf, with a purple rope tied around his waist.

It was then that Quoi realized who this was. He remembered the name that Gaara had mentioned once and even realized that this was who His Master and Naruto and Sakura was even looking for. Quoi felt his breath catch within his chest, and almost stumbled when he had hesitated. He flinched when Sasuke shot him a very cold look from over his shoulder. Cringing, the boy tried his best to keep up with him as they went down through the stone corridors. "You...you're...Sasuke Uchiha?"

The cold young man shot him another look from over his shoulder before he came to a sudden halt in front of some doors, which almost made the boy crash into him. But he roughly shoved him right off of him before he threw the door open and practically threw Quoi into the well lit room. The boy stumbled as he went flying into the room before tripping over his feet and crashed to the ground. The kid only yelped in pain before he was quickly sitting up and looking up at the dark haired ninja with fear. Sasuke didn't look at him as he stepped into the room and then slammed the door shut before removing his Katana, dropping it right by the door. It took Quoi a second to glance around, only to realize exactly where he was. It was a Dojo. And judging by some of the burn marks and blood stains all over the walls and floor, it didn't take long to realize what this ninja had planned for him.

"N-no..." Quoi whimpered before trying to push himself to his feet, yet shakily before cringing when the very cold looking Sasuke Uchiha turned towards him and even took a few threatening steps towards him. The boy then threw his arms above his head. "Master Gaara..." He whimpered terrified and waited for the beating of his lifetime.

However, Sasuke stopped in his steps and stared at the boy. After hearing those words come right out this kid's lips, he really couldn't help but stare at him coldly. He watched as the boy continued to bend forward and keep his arms over his head but then he tilted his head. "What did you say?" He said rather coldly.

Slowly, Quoi lowered his arms, yet was shaking violently as he left his trembling head to look up at Sasuke with fear. He was breathing very rapidly as he met the cold gaze but then he shakily straightened. "I...I...sa-said...Ma-Master Gaara..." He said his voice breaking as he tried to take a wobbly step back away from Sasuke.

There was a very long silence in the room as Sasuke stared coldly at the boy before him before he turned his eyes away from him to stare at the wall with a frown. So he had heard right. This boy had said Master Gaara. That just made him snort with dry humor before turning his cool gaze back onto the kid before him. He noted how terrified the boy was but after looking him over, observing him, he folded his arms and shifted his weight. "You're from the desert aren't you?" He said still very coldly.

Shakily, Quoi nodded. "Su-Suna Village...sir." He added that last word, hoping that it would prolong his beating.

Sasuke once again gave a sharp "Un" before he looked the boy over again, noting how ragged he surely looked. He also saw the pretty nasty cut on his arm, which had dried blood caking around the skin and somewhat running dry down his arm. The boy was pretty dirt after being roughly handled by Kabuto, which was no surprise. Kabuto might have been a medic but when it came to enemy patients, he wasn't gentle. "So...Gaara of the Sand is your master." He stated though it had a hint of a question with it too.

Again Quoi nodded shakily. "Y-yes...sir..." He answered still terrified.

"Stop calling me sir." Sasuke said very coldly, which only made the boy flinch. He didn't even care that it did. He just narrowed his dark eyes at Quoi before lowering his arms again and taking another step towards him, which again made him flinch. "Are you really his apprentice? Because knowing Gaara, he would never take on a weak and useless student. Unless of course, the rumors are true and he's become weak, himself."

That brought some strength in Quoi's eyes and he shot the Uchiha a dark look. He even gnashed his teeth a little at him. "Master Gaara is not weak! He's strong and powerful and wise!" He practically shouted before he realized that he had just snapped at a very dangerous ninja and he cowered again.

But Sasuke was not offended. In fact, his cold lips curled up into a smirk as he studied the boy before him. He had seen some strength flash in the boy's eyes and realized that there might have been something about him after all. "Hmmm." He then tilted his head to the side as he looked Quoi over again. "What's your name?"

That question took Quoi by surprise and he stared at Sasuke with wide eyes before he slowly straightened, now trying to put on a brave face. "Chiquoi. But everyone calls me Quoi." He answered, as boldly as he could. He knew that he really shouldn't show this guy his fear, no matter how dangerous he was. He knew that Master Gaara would have preferred him to be brave just like he would. So he took a deep breath and lift his head higher. "And you're Master Gaara's old friend, Sasuke Uchiha." he said with determination.

Again Sasuke smirked and he nodded. "That's right. So Gaara has told you about me." He received a meek nod from the boy before he turned away from him, now seeming to be disinterested in him. He merely glanced over his shoulder at the kid before holding up a hand. "Come with me. Just talking to you has made me change my mind about training. You are to tell me how strong Gaara has become." He told him. He saw the kid blink as if surprised by his words but he didn't pay too much attention anymore. He just walked towards the sliding door of the Dojo and stopped in front of the door. "Well? Are you coming or do you really want me to use you as a target for my Jutsu?" He asked coldly.

Jumping a little, Quoi then hurried forward to move beside Sasuke but hesitated as he approached him. He swallowed hard as he stopped right next to him and looked up at the much taller ninja. "Umm..."

"Pick up my katana and hand it to me then open the door." Sasuke ordered. Those orders just made Quoi's face darkened. He didn't like to be bossed around. As if he didn't get enough of that from Kankuro. But the dangerous look that Sasuke gave him made him quickly reconsider and he swooped down and picked up the katana and held it out to the raven haired obviously bully. But then he stepped towards the door and slid it open. He quickly moved out of the way as Sasuke brushed right by him, barking at him to follow. Quoi flinched for a second but then hurried after him. He had to jog to keep up with Sasuke's long strides.

They walked for quite a little while, walking through the cold corridors of the underground base. Quoi couldn't help but glance around as they went, trying very hard to think of way of getting out of there. He knew the exit had to be somewhere. But where? He was pretty sure that Sasuke wouldn't tell him. It was more than likely he was going to make a slave out of him, seeing that he was already ordering him around. He found only a little relief to think he wasn't going to get the life beaten out of him right then. At the moment, he wasn't feeling very well. It was probably the exhaustion he felt.

"Umm..." Quoi would have slapped himself for humming out loud which had made Sasuke shot him a look. He cringed a little but swallowed hard. "That...Or-Orochimaru guy said he was going...he was going to do experiments on me. Can...would you tell me what experiments...he'll probably do to me?" He asked, sounding pretty scared and he really was.

Sasuke stared at him for a few minutes before looking forward again. He didn't answer for a long time but kept on walking through the cool corridors but then he found himself shake his head. "I don't know and I don't care. What Orochimaru does on his own time is his own business. As long as he trains me, that's all I care about." He said coldly but he tilted his head back towards Quoi when he let out a sad sigh and looked at the ground as he tried to keep up. He frowned at him but then looked forward again. "It'll be more than likely he'll do some experiments that deals with enhancing your strength, your senses and maybe even attempt to change your DNA strands to make you do some Jutsu that you, yourself could never learn. It'll be very painful. I always end up staying awake at night because he doesn't keep those stupid test subjects from shutting up as he tortures them." He told Quoi.

Quoi halted in his footsteps with a look of shock on his face and he felt his entire body grow cold. He had not liked the sound of that at all. It scared him to no limit. Tortured? He had never been tortured before other than having the Sand Ninja beat him up constantly. But...what kind of tortures would Orochimaru do to him? He felt his fear rising up again and tears started to swell in his eyes. He became aware that Sasuke had even stopped to turn and look at him rather coldly. But he didn't pay any attention to him. "Tor-tortured? He's going...he's going to torture me?" He said weakly.

"More than likely kill you. His test subjects don't really last very long." Sasuke said rather dryly.

A choke rose up within Quoi's throat and he felt himself break a little as he felt his tears now spilling over his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his middle and slowly lower himself to a crouch, doubling over as if he was going to be sick. He really did feel like he was going to be. "Ma-Master...Master Gaara..." He began to cry softly as he buried his face into his knees. "When will I ever be the strong ninja you want me to be? Why do I have to always be weak? How am I suppose to protect you from the Akatsuki if I end up dead as some experiment by this monster?" He cried softly.

Sasuke stared at him for a minute before he turned around and went over to next to the boy, looking down at him through a cold stare. He felt no pity for this little brat. But...in a way, those words he just murmured did remind him of himself when he was a kid. "Crying is for the weak. If you want to be strong, don't cry. And don't cower. Stand up tall and don't show your fear. That only proves you are weak." He said coldly.

Quoi lift his head and he looked right up into Sasuke's dark gaze with a dark gaze of his own. "Master Gaara says it's okay to cry if it calls for it." He said rather dryly.

A cold smirk appeared on Sasuke's lips but he shook his head as he stared the boy right in the eyes. "Does it call for it right now?" He asked almost emotionlessly.

Quoi blinked a few times before he lowered his head to the ground. He was quiet for a very long time before he slowly rose to his full height and he wipe his eyes with his dirty arm, ignoring the fact that it stung from the cut on it. He then lift his head higher and tried to look as brave as he could. "No. It doesn't. If Master Gaara were me and he was a prisoner by that Orochimaru-baka, he would face the threat without any fear. He would fight to live and make sure he returned to Naruto-kun and Sakura-kun. He loves them and he would never die because he has to protect Naruto from those Akatsuki bastards." He said as bravely as he could.

Sasuke's dark eyes changed a little as he watched how brave this boy was trying to be and he even turned slightly away to hide the smirk on his face. 'Well, Gaara. Looks like you've been teaching this kid well.' He thought before he turned fully away and started walking, yet he had slowed down so that Quoi could keep up.

Right outside the underground base, not too far away, Team Seven had finally caught up to Yamato's clone, as well as Kankuro. The Puppet Master had caught up to the Clone not more than an hour before they did and went with him, following a trail to a practically dried up lake. So Kabuto really hadn't lied too much about the base being around a lake. And not too long ago, Team Seven had finally found them. Gaara was staring forward with a very serious look on his face and felt rather anxious about trying to find Quoi. He had been quite disappointed that Kankuro hadn't managed to find his student before Orochimaru did, which had the Puppet Master very upset when he found out what happened to the kid. So all five ninja and Yamato's Clone was looking towards some kind of waste land with very little water for a lake. They were all frowning as they looked around but very anxious.

"Here, huh?" Yamato asked his Clone.

The Wood Clone just bobbed his head a little but kept his eyes directly towards the wastes. "The entrance is right below that rock formation in front of us." He stated, pointing towards some pointed rocks almost twenty feet away from them.

Gaara stared at the rock formation with such a serious gaze, and in a way it looked like he was trying to cause them to explode but they never did. They just sat there, defying him. He tilted his head slightly when Naruto moved a little closer. "Under those rocks...Sasuke is waiting." He lowered his head a little. "Ok. Let's go." He said now taking a step forward.

But Yamato held out a hand and caught him around the chest, holding him back. "Hold on a second." he told him seriously. And as he spoke, the Clone seemed to dissolve right into his hand becoming a very small pill looking object or some kind of seed. Then he held it out towards Naruto. "You can go after you've swallowed this, Naruto." He then held up his other hand and revealed three more. "And here is one for you, Sakura and Kankuro. As well as you, Gaara." He told them. Frowning, each of them took the strange pills and studied them with a frown. "Even if we end up getting separated, with those inside of you, I'll be able to locate you immediately."

"What is this?" Sakura asked staring at it with confusion.

Yamato just shook his head as he looked at her. "To put things simply, those seeds are tracking devices. They're a tool of mine that responds only to my chakra." His head dipped down a little. "Those are just the same as the ones that I planted in Sai's clothes and food." he told them.

All four of the young ninja looked at him with surprise as they studied the seeds. Sakura's eyes were the brightest out of everyone's though. "I see! So this is how you were able to track him." She said brightly.

Astonished, Naruto looked at the ANBU captain with almost awe but confusion. "When did you manage to..."

Yamato smiled faintly at him but shook his head as he folded his arms across his chest. "Don't you remember? How I went back to the room before the two of you at the Hot Springs? Right after that little incident between you and Sai, and of course..." He cut himself off as he glanced over at Gaara, whose face flushed as he looked away. Even Sakura blushed a little at the memory of Gaara's little outburst at Shukaku. "Now you should understand why I went out of my way, using my own money to treat everyone to such a lavish stay at that Hot Springs resort." He shook his head as he smiled slyly. "Everyone was just like Tsunade-sama said. Taking precautions with Sai sure has paid off in the end. I would have told you too, Gaara-sama, but like I said, I had to take careful precautions." he told them.

Gaara merely nodded as he looked at the ANBU captain with an amused look and even felt quite a bit of respect going out to this man. He had to admit it, but he was very smart and sly. "I'm impressed, Yamato-taichou." he said quietly before frowning seriously as he looked towards the dried waste land. "Did you give Quoi one too? Is that how you knew he had been across the ravine and chasing after Sai?"

"Yes." Yamato admitted. "This morning when I offered him some dango for breakfast. I figured you wanted him to be safe and well looked after so I gave him one so that we would be able to track him as well. I didn't realize that he took off after Kankuro joined us because of the excitement that was going on at the time. Not until I checked for him when it was all over. I'm sorry I didn't warn you before."

The young Kazekage shook his head but looked forward as he popped the seed in his mouth as did Kankuro and Sakura. He swallowed the seed before folding his arms. "As long as we reach Quoi in time and he is safe, I don't care." He told them.

Nodding, Yamato looked towards the rock formation. "All right. Enough talk. Swallow that now, Naruto." He waited till Naruto did before he took a step towards the formations. "Okay then. Everyone, it's time. Let's go retrieve Gaara's student back." He said and everyone nodded with serious looks on their faces before they started walking towards the rock formations. "We'll conduct the infiltration in file. Me first...then Sakura, then Naruto and then Gaara. Kankuro, if you don't mind being in the back."

"I have no problem with it." Kankuro stated as he reached up and hooked his hand under the straps of his back that carried his puppets. "Just as long as we get the kid back, safe and sound, I'll follow your orders."

Yamato nodded but then glanced over at Sakura as she readied herself. "What's our method of infiltration?" She asked getting right down to the point.

"We're taking this by the book. So we'll use a Doton technique, earth style, to approach from within the ground." Yamato explained to them before he took the lead.

Everyone nodded as they got into position and followed after him. Though, the young Kazekage's face grew very serious as he looked at the rock formations. 'Quoi, hold on. I'm coming.' He thought very seriously. He could only hope that they were too late. He wouldn't doubt that if Orochimaru knew that he was here with Team Seven, the snake would probably try and kill Quoi the second he realized they were.


	13. Chapter Twelve

It was rather surprising actually in Quoi's opinion.

Ever since he even met Sasuke Uchiha not too long ago, he had realized of how cold the Ninja was. He was very stoic like and he wasn't very nice, not even to him. And he really didn't seem to care about anyone or anything but his moments of revenge on someone, which he had mentioned that he had wanted to kill someone. His brother. But as soon as they reached Sasuke's destination, which happened to be his room, actually, Sasuke immediately ordered him to sit down in the only chair in the entire dark room while he went over to a dresser on the other side of the room. Quoi had obeyed, of course. He was still very nervous around this ice block of a person.

But it then surprised Quoi when Sasuke pulled out a bottle of antiseptic out of his drawer, a rag and a few bandages before going over to him and holding them out to him. "Do you know how to dress your wounds?" He had asked coldly.

Taken slightly aback, Quoi stared at him for a few seconds before quickly shaking his head and grimacing. "No. I'm only ten and I wasn't ever trained in the medical field at all. Master Gaara really didn't teach me that stuff. And I'm really not much of a ninja. I haven't even left the Ninja academy yet." He told him.

With a very impatient grunt and a roll of his dark eyes, Sasuke bent down to one knee and began cleaning the wounds on Quoi's person. He had to shoot the boy a dark look when he yelped loudly when the antiseptic touched the cut on his arm but was satisfied that he didn't make another sound as he roughly cleaned the cuts and scratches all over the kid's body.

Then he silently ordered the boy to tell him about Gaara and how strong he was now. Not wanting to anger Sasuke Uchiha anymore, Quoi then launched into his little tale of exactly how he had met Master Gaara. He even told him about the first time he ever saw his master. He explained how Akatsuki had been in control of the Sand Village for nearly Fifteen years until Gaara of the Sand came along and liberated it. He told Sasuke everything that he knew so far. He even told him about how Sasori of the Akatsuki had murdered his parents and how Master Gaara had found him and tried to comfort him after the murder of his father.

After that was explained, Quoi told Sasuke about how the Akatsuki found out about Gaara being in the Sand Village and they had attacked him. He didn't leave out anything as he told Sasuke about how his master fought the Clay Bomber member, Deidara above the Village and did everything he could to protect it and it's people while trying to defeat him. He even told the raven haired, cold tempered ninja about how Deidara did defeat Gaara and had captured him and took him to the Akatsuki base to extract the Shukaku from him. During that entire time, Sasuke hadn't said a word as he listened to the boy, frowning and narrowing his eyes during the story. But not once did he interrupt. However, after that last piece where Quoi explained that Gaara was recovered and saved by Naruto, Sakura and even Kakashi, as well as several of the Sand Ninja, his head jerked up a little to look the boy when he said that some how Gaara still possessed the One Tailed demon. He frowned deeply when Quoi told him that everyone was suspecting that it had been Sasori, himself, who spared Gaara's life and bound the One Tailed demon to him so that it couldn't leave him.

"I don't think that's true though." Quoi admitted as soon as Sasuke finished wrapping the cut on his arm with some bandages. He had a thoughtful frown on his face as he turned his eyes away from the raven haired ninja. "Whenever they talk about it and say that about Sasori, Master Gaara always looks away and I can tell he's not telling them the truth. I think it was one of the other Akatsuki who did it. Maybe..." he made a face. "I think...I think it was Itachi Uchiha who did it. I heard him mutter the name a few times."

At the name, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's flashed and he looked very seriously at Quoi. He had to admit that surprised him but it also made him very suspicious. If it really was Itachi who spared Gaara's life, what was his brother up to? There was no possible way that he would spare someone's life unless it actually meant there was something in it for him. If Itachi saved Gaara's life, Sasuke thought while narrowing his eyes to slits, then there was something he wanted from his old teammate. 'What are you up to, Itachi?' He thought bitterly.

Just then the door to Sasuke's door slid open and that made the raven haired ninja's head jerk around to glare icily at who just entered his room without even knocking or without his permission. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw that it was Kabuto. The gray haired ninja had made a quick glance around before pausing to see that Sasuke was in the same room as the boy. He looked surprised to see that his cold tempered comrade was actually dressing the boy's wounds and that made his mouth quirk up a little as if he found it amusing. He didn't even seem to realize that he had done something that really made the Uchiha annoyed and angry. "Oh. There you are." He said looking directly at Quoi, who was cowering back against the chair. But then flickered his eyes back to Sasuke, who stood up. "Well, I was looking for Orochimaru's new test subject but I wasn't expected to find him here with you, Sasuke-kun. I thought you had nearly beaten the life out of him and dropped him off somewhere in the base by now. But..." He smirked a little as he looked at the bandage around Quoi's arm. "Here you are...dressing his wounds. Talking about surprising."

Sasuke continued to give him a dangerous look. "What did I tell you about knocking before entering, Kabuto?" He asked coldly before he grabbed the antiseptic and the rest of the bandages and put them away.

Kabuto rose his eyebrows before he grabbed the door, closed it half way and knocked on it a few times before entering again. He was just doing it to irritate Sasuke, even though he knew it wasn't a good idea. So he wasn't surprised when the Uchiha turned and gave him a very annoyed and cold glare. "Relax, Sasuke-kun. I didn't think you were in here. I thought you might have gone to track down Orochimaru-sama and bug him about training you again." His eyes flickered back to Quoi who stood up and moved to stand behind the chair, as if using it to shield himself from the Four-Eyed freak. "Besides, I was sent to find the little experiment. Orochimaru-sama has asked me to start on him before we move to the new base. He doesn't want it running away." He said now moving into the room towards the boy.

Of course, that was exactly what Quoi did not want Kabuto to do. He wanted to stay as far away as he could from this sick freak. So when the Four-Eyes started moving towards him, he shoved the chair at him to trip him before bolting towards Sasuke, as if asking him for protection. He was sorely disappointed when Sasuke didn't offer it. The raven haired ninja just roughly pushed him away from him towards the wall, where Kabuto cornered him. "Sa-Sasuke-san, pl-please...don't let him touch me!" Quoi begged, cringing against the stone wall.

"Please." Kabuto said dryly as he moved closer to him. "Sasuke-kun don't give a rat's ass about you. He doesn't care about anything but his own ambition. He might have dressed your wounds but trust me on this. He doesn't care about you."

Quoi pressed himself closer to the wall as he looked pleadingly up at Sasuke. He knew that he was showing his weakness by being afraid but he really couldn't help it. He was terrified of what was going to happen to him. He was just a kid, after all. Not even a Shinobi yet. So he knew he was allowed to show some weakness until he really was a ninja. "Please...Sasuke...don't let him hurt me." He begged.

Sasuke met his eyes with such a cold stare before he looked away and turned his back onto him. "You heard Kabuto. All I wanted from you was to train and to get information from you about Gaara." He tilted his head towards Kabuto. "Do whatever you want with him now. I don't care." He said coldly.

Again, for almost the fifth time that day, Quoi felt as if his world had shattered right before his eyes and he felt his heart fall in his chest. He had really hoped that Sasuke Uchiha might defend him like he had before. But it looked like that everything that Kabuto and Orochimaru had said was true. He didn't care. Slowly, he shook his head as he stared up at him with disbelief and hurt. His breathing was becoming very heavily which immediately sped up when Kabuto roughly grabbed his arm. He tried to jerk away but the Four-Eyed ninja kept a very tight hold on his wrist. So tight that it nearly cut off his circulation. The boy winced but tried to jerk away again as Kabuto began dragging him towards the door. He had tried to grab a hold of something to anchor himself down but the evil Medical ninja gave him a sharp jerk that he missed what he was trying to grab for.

Sasuke only watched Kabuto yank Quoi right out of the room and watched as the gray haired ninja turned back to give him a pleasant nod and shut the door.

Kabuto dragged the boy roughly down the corridor, who was struggling as hard as he could to break loose from his grip. He only tightened his grip on his wrist and jerked him sharply, almost making him trip. It really irritated that the boy was making such a fuss. In his opinion, most would happily agree to be a test subject to Lord Orochimaru. Especially when it was in the serpentine's interest in enhancing the little brat's strength a little. He knew it was a little painful to the subjects, due to that some had cried or sweated terribly from the experiments but this boy was just being childish.

"Let go of me! I don't wanna become an experiment! Let me go!" Quoi shouted as he pulled back but found himself fall flat onto his face when Kabuto yanked him hard.

Kabuto was giving him a very icy look as he held tight to Quoi's wrist before he jerked him to his feet again and went on to dragging him down the corridor. "Stop making such a fuss. If we're successful, you'll be the strong ninja you wanted to be. You should be happy that Orochimaru-sama is so interested in you as it is. He usually doesn't care about those who whine as much as you do." He said coldly before yanking Quoi into a large room with torches lighting it up well.

There were many machines and a few tables in this room and it was clearly some kind of lab. There was a medical cabinet against a wall on the far side of the room. Next to it was a large table where there were glass test tubes full of strange liquids and syringes. It was mostly the medical blades set on the table that really scared Quoi. There were even a few bloodied rags laid on the table. Jars full of the strangest things sat on the table as well and inside them were body parts; such as fingers, eyes, a brain! It was those that made Quoi yelp in fear and fight even harder to break away from Kabuto. But the gray haired medic yanked him back and dragged him over to a medic bed with straps hanging on the sides. He didn't hesitate at all as he pulled the kid over to it and then turned sharply around as the boy tried once again to break free.

Looking highly irritated now, Kabuto grabbed Quoi by the neck and swung him around into the air before slamming him down onto the medical bed. The air had been knocked from the boy's lungs which caused him to cough and sputter while Kabuto roughly grabbed his arm and strapped them down. He moved quickly to strap down the other arm and then his legs before pulling a strap down over his chest to keep him from thrashing. He didn't even seem to care that he made them too tight either.

Once the boy was strapped down, Kabuto took a deep irritated breath before fixing his glasses as they had slipped down his nose a little. He even ran a hand through his gray hair before turning away from Quoi, who was still struggling on the bed, even if it was useless. " Sai-kun was right. You are such a pain. Fighting like that when you know it's useless."

Of course, Quoi wasn't listening to him. He was struggling hard against the straps before he closed his eyes tightly to squeeze some tears out and he threw his head back against the bed. "MASTER GAARA!" He bellowed.

Kabuto winced at the loud pitch of the boy's voice before he grabbed a syringe and a small bottle off the table. He was very annoyed now with this little brat. He had had some subjects fight like this before but once they had been on the medical table, they usually shut up and watched him as he began preparing for the tests. But this little gaki...he was still making a loud fuss! He was surprised that Orochimaru didn't show up right then, hands covering his ears and looking very angry. With his brow furrowed with anger, the medic filled the syringe up with some of the clear liquid before turning back to Quoi. "This should shut you up!" He growled before stabbing the needle into Quoi's crook of his arm.

Quoi yelped in pain before shooting the gray haired, four-eyed freak a glare before he suddenly felt very dizzy and tired. His eyes started to droop a little and he felt as if the world started spinning. "Wh-what...what..." He panted wearily.

"Sedatives." Answered Kabuto dryly before yanking the needle out of his arm and tossing it onto the table behind him. "At least it'll shut you up. I'm getting very tired of having to listen to you. Now," He was now smirking as he began moving around the room and gathering a few things. He pulled out a few bottles from the cabinet and then went back over the table next to the medical bed. "Let's get started. First, I think I better inject the poison into your system. It stays in your system a very long time. In about a month, I'll have to inject you again with it. This stuff will keep you from running away from us. If you try it, you will die. We have the only antidote." Kabuto said smirking wickedly at the boy as he began filling a new syringe. "And you'll need the antidote every 12 hours or it will eat away your life."

Quoi tried to watch him but he was starting to see double, though even his vision started to blur as tears filled his eyes. He felt completely hopeless now. He knew that his Master would be coming for him but he was pretty sure he wouldn't get there in time.

However, he heard Kabuto swear and he looked to see him put the syringe back down. The Gray haired medic was glancing around before he shook his head. "Damn it. I nearly forgot about the Bingo book. And I just had to leave those files in Sai's room." He gave Quoi a very annoyed look but shook his head. "Don't even think about going anywhere until I get back." He then snorted as he turned and started out of the room. "As if you could anyway. Those straps are keeping you from moving and there's no way those sedatives are going to let you walk out of this room. Someone would have to carry you out." He muttered as he left, leaving Quoi to lay on the medical bed, dizzy and tired.

It was very quiet, yet cold in the underground tunnel. The three Leaf Ninja, the young Kazekage and the Puppet Master managed to find the entrance without attracting any attention, which came as a relief. They had succeeded in masking their Chakra and they were pretty sure that no one suspected that they were there. The five silently crawled through a narrow tunnel until it came to a stone wall, where Yamato began to examine it. He frowned as he looked it over, touching it with his hand before turning back to the others. "Just like I thought. Seems their hideout is surrounded by rock." He told them.

Gaara let out a very quiet but frustrated sigh. He knew that was going to be a problem, even for his sand. Rock wasn't exactly easy to break without making any noise. Which is why everyone turned down Naruto's idea of letting him break the entrance door with his Rasengan. The other four knew very well if the blonde did that, there was a good chance that Orochimaru would definitely know they were there and he would kill Quoi before they had a chance to get to him.

"Well, then how do we...!" Naruto whispered, sounding irritated at the turn down.

No one spoke for a long moment before Yamato placed his hand on the stone door. From where Gaara stood he could see that the wood manipulator was pressing hard on the stone until he managed to rupture it a little. "Here we go..." The ANBU said quietly making Naruto and Sakura frown with wonder. "It's for this kind of hard rock in particular that if you apply just a little force to a small crack..." He cut himself off before holding his fingers in front of the crack in the stone. And to Naruto, Sakura and Kankuro's surprise, his fingers, their selves, emitted thing roots right out of them before sinking into the crack. The wood slowly began to grow and caused more cracks before breaking the stone completely and causing a silent collapse in the stone until there was a hole in the wall, right into the base. "See. Just like I said." Yamato said before his hand returned to normal. He quietly looked around in the dark corridor before crawling through and waited for the others to crawl into the corridor with him. "Well, at least we've succeeded with the infiltration part. We'll look for Sai first."

"I won't." Gaara said quietly making all of them look at him. His face had grown very serious but he shook his head as he folded his arms, meeting their eyes. "I have to find Quoi and make sure he's safe first. You find Sai and take care of him. Kankuro...help them."

The Puppet Master shook his head as he glanced over at Naruto, Sakura and Yamato. "I'm going to help you, Gaara. They'll understand, right?" he asked.

All three Leaf Ninja nodded as they glanced at one another. They understood very well, actually. They knew that Kankuro was still feeling terrible for not watching Quoi and protecting him when he should have. So they didn't blame him for wanting to help Gaara find their young friend first. "It'll be fine, Gaara. You and Kankuro should locate Quoi. It's bothering you that he's in such danger and you can't really concentrate if he's in that danger." Sakura reassured him as she glanced at Naruto, who nodded in agreement. "Just go find him and make sure he's safe."

"As for us..." Yamato whispered before closing his eyes to concentrate. He was quiet for a very long moment before his eyes opened again. "This way. Quoi is also this in this direction. We should stick together for now."

Everyone nodded before they began hurrying through the darkness. They had to keep their eyes open for any movement and listen very hard for any sound. They wandered the stone corridors silently but then Yamato shook his head as he turned down another corridor. "Just a little further." He whispered to them.

And after a little more of wandering, Yamato stopped in front of a door, looking at it with a hard look. He held up a hand to the rest before grabbing the door knob and twisting it. Gaara could hear movement within the room and judging by Shukaku's threatening growls, he knew it must have been Sai. He, with the others, just watched Yamato try and open the door but then frowned sternly when he realized that it was locked. He held up a finger and pressed it against the lock pad before pushing his finger into place, forming a wooden key. Giving his hand a little twist, the ANBU finally unlocked the door before opening the door and peering inside carefully. "And look who we have here." He remarked quietly before he opened the door to reveal who was inside the room.

Gaara's face grew very dark the very second he saw a blankly surprised Sai standing in the middle of the room, staring at them. He felt the hot sand storms within his head explode inside his head and his demon was demanding the blood of this traitorous pale ninja. He was sorely tempted of giving in that temptation. He wanted to kill Sai for what he had done and for even involving Quoi's kidnap.

However, Sai put on his fake smile as the five ninja entered the dark room and he shook his head. "The Hokage Controlled ANBU. Impressive, as always. To think that fake corpse wouldn't fool you." He said pleasantly.

That is until he got thrown hard against the wall by a sand made hand, pinning him tightly. His head hit the wall just as hard and it made him wince for nearly the first time in his life but he reopened his eyes, looking at Gaara as he moved forward, looking extremely dangerous. He noted that the others were looking at the red head with unease but they really hadn't done anything to stop him from hurting the pale ninja in black. The young Kazekage glared darkly at Sai as he kept him pinned against the wall with his sand but didn't move to kill him...yet.

"I suggest you tell us what is going on here, Sai." Yamato warned him, his face almost as dark as the young Kazekage's.

Naruto nodded as he hurried forward to stand right next to Gaara, glaring up at the pinned Sai. He looked just as angry as his best friend. "You! Why did you betray us?! And where is Quoi?!" he asked a little too loudly.

Sai winced a little at the pressure of the sand but then forced his fake smile once again, acting as if nothing really actually was happening. He shook his head at the blonde, even though Sakura was shushing him to be quiet. "You shouldn't make too much noise here. It'll mean trouble." He told them. He earned an angry growl from Naruto but Sakura had clapped a hand onto the blonde's shoulder and held her finger up to her mouth.

Gaara continued to glare at Sai before he glanced side wards at Sakura when she placed a hand gently on his shoulder, giving him a soft look and shaking her head. He knew what she was trying to say. So with a growl within his throat and a dirty look thrown at Sai, he pulled his sand back off of the Root ANBU, who immediately started rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to get rid of the pain there. The Kazekage folded his arms, still letting sand slowly swirl around him, just to remind Sai that he wasn't playing around anymore with him. He didn't look surprised when Sakura moved forward and held out Sai's book to him. "Here. We found this." Sai blinked at her for a second before he took it with a quiet thanks. "You're here under Danzo's orders, right? Danzo's planning something through working with Orochimaru and you were chosen as a go-between. What is it he's up to?"

There was a long silence in the entire room as everyone waited for Sai to answer. They were all pretty sure that he wouldn't. He probably wouldn't tell them anything. Gaara thought it pointless to even ask. He knew that Sai probably wouldn't betray Danzo. Why would he? Danzo was his superior. He thought it was better to just kill...

"He's plotting the destruction of Konoha with Orochimaru." Sai suddenly admitted, making Gaara and the others blink in surprise. They honestly couldn't believe that he just admitted it. He sold out his superior.

Yamato's face darkened but he shook his head. "Part two of it, right?" He asked, not happy at all.

But Sai fake smiled pleasantly and shook his head. "No...actually..."

Naruto growled at him and balled up his fists, looking as if he was going to start swinging. And Gaara wasn't going to do anything to stop him at all. "We already know that all of your smiles are fake! And the same goes for the lies you force through them!" He snapped but then winced when Kankuro slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

There was a brief pause before Sai shook his head, looking at him, still with his fake smile, but it was more faint this time. "My mission ended in failure the moment you found me. And I can't very well take care of all of you by myself...so...since you already know so much there isn't much reason to hide things anymore." He turned slightly away from them, no longer smiling and lowered his head. "Just as you say, we are going to destroy Konoha as it exists today." That just earned a growl from both Naruto and Gaara. "In order to destroy Konoha, I was to gain Orochimaru's favor. Thus, giving us a chance for us to ally with him. That was my true mission."

At this point, Yamato had taken out a kunai and was pointing it at him with a very deadly look on his face. He, like the others, looked furious but he was being professional about it. "Keep talking. Tell us everything you know." He ordered him.

"Do you even realize what it is you're saying?! What it means...!" Naruto was growling at the pale ninja in front of him.

Gaara shook his head as he folded his arms and gave Sai a very deadly look. He was hating this ninja more and more. Especially while he was saying this, he put his stupid fake smile back onto his face. "Do you honestly think that I will ally my village with Danzo if he thinks about trying to become the Hokage?" He growled. "Everything you've just said..."

"No...that's not everything." Sai interrupted quietly turning his blank eyes onto him. "I was also supposed to secretly transmit information on Orochimaru to Danzo-sama. In other words, I was also assigned a mission of espionage." He told them.

That surprised all of them but made them frown as they glanced at one another. Gaara narrowed his eyes a little and slowly met his eyes with Kankuro. They both didn't like this at all. There was something that Sai was not saying. But Sakura tilted her head as she studied Sai. "So the mission was to ally with the enemy then use and outwit him in the end...and that enemy is Orochimaru? That is such a dangerous mission." She muttered.

Sai just kept on his fake smile but shook his head. "Once Konoha falls, Orochimaru is guaranteed to betray us in the end after all. My mission was intended to allow us to always stay one step ahead of him."

"Pfft. You really think that you can fool Orochimaru like that?" Kankuro asked gravely but he was ignored.

"Danzo wants to make Konoha his own, obviously. And you, on your own, were assigned to a mission to make that possible." Sakura said shaking her head and looked just as grave.

Again Sai shook his head as he faked his smile again. "I was singled out due to the special abilities I have. The ink I write becomes small living animals and protecting them selves from harm they carry the information out to their destination." he told them.

Sakura glanced side wards at Gaara but her face darkened again as she lift her head higher and gave Sai a very stern look as she clenched her fists tightly. "If Konoha becomes the stage of a battle again, countless of people will die! What you're trying to do is going to have real life consequences! But do you even understand that!" She told the ninja in front of her angrily.

Sai just snorted and shook his head. "I just follow orders." He remarked and that caused everyone to glare even harder at him. It seemed that what Kankuro said to Gaara right after he met the ninja had been true. Sai really was the perfect machine for the Ninja Village. "And just to let you know, 'Sai' is just a name that was assigned to me merely for the purposes of this mission. In reality, I have no name." That made everyone stare at him with bewilderment. "I am nothing more than a tool of Danzo-sama. I don't really exist. As such, no matter what you say to me means nothing."

Those words brought back a distant memory to Gaara and he was very sure that it brought the same memory back to Naruto, seeing the look on his face. He was sure that his best friend was thinking of the same person he was. Haku. The young Mist Ninja that Shukaku made Gaara kill during the Land of the Waves mission.

"In that case..." Sakura whispered softly. "Tell me why you care so much about that picture book you carry..." The demand from the pink haired kunoichi made Sai blink as if he'd been stung by something but then his head lowered and he held up the book in his hand. He stared at it for a long time before turning it over to the side of the white haired boy. His eyes narrowed a little but there was definitely something there. "The two children on the covers...that's you and your brother, right? You carry that because it is the only thing left that proves you really do exist. Am I not right?" She continued. But Sai didn't really answer but stare at the book in his hand. "Even for us Shinobi, abandoning our emotions completely is impossible."

There was another pause before Sai lift his eyes and looked at her directly. "Please explain, why would carrying this picture book serve to prove my existence?" He asked quietly.

Sakura shook her head as she glanced over at Gaara, meeting his teal colored eyes. She took a step closer to him and then gently wrap her hand around his, causing Sai to frown with interest. "The reason why you refuse to let go of that book...is precisely because you find yourself unable to forget your existence as somebody's brother. Don't you understand?" She asked then looked at Sai, frowning. "It's because your bonds with your brother are very important to you." Her words made Sai's eyes lit up a little. "The reality is you don't want to erase the bonds between you and your brother..."

"Bonds?" Sai whispered.

Yamato was still pointing his kunai at Sai, as if he was holding him there. "Sorry to say, but we took a little peek at the contents of that book." He admitted. "The picture on the two pages in the center is the only part of the book that's left unfinished. Judging from the rest of the book, you would end up fighting your brother on those center pages. Sai...I know that you were apart of ANBU's Roots. And I know about the special training that Danzo put you through to relieve you of your emotions." His words made everyone look at him with surprise and curiosity. But he shook his head as if he wasn't going to talk about that training. "Training identical to that of the Forsaken tradition. That were once practiced in the Village of Bloody Mist, Kirigakure. Sai, you're brother died because that training."

Sai narrowed his eyes at Yamato but he dipped his head down. "You're wrong." That made everyone frown once again. "I had intended to give this to my brother as a present. But just when I was about to complete it...my brother...he died of an illness." He lowered his head, still looking blank. "We weren't connected by blood. But he always complimented on my art." He rose his dark eyes and looked at them again. "Roots was filled with a great number of children that had been separated from their families due to battles. And I became close to one of those children calling him my brother." He lowered his eyes again onto the book in his hands. "About this picture book...the picture I wanted to show my brother the most...the one in the center...After my brother died...I just can't seem to remember what I was planning on drawing." He told them.

"You say you share no emotions, Sai, no feelings" Gaara finally spoke after a very long time, getting him to look at him. But he shook his head. "But I know you are lying not only to us, but to yourself. With every word you just said, I see sadness in your eyes." His words made Sai's eyes widen but he dipped his head down. "Sai, my student, Quoi is in danger because he followed you. It's true he was foolish for doing that. But I know he was worried about you. He wanted to see what you were doing and make sure you weren't getting yourself into trouble. And because of his concern for you, he placed himself into grave danger." The young Kazekage's let out a shaky breath. "I took him in when his father was murdered by the Akatsuki. He had no friends, no family. But I took care of him. And I still want to take care of him. We have developed a bond that no one can break."

"But...he disobeyed you again..." Sai said his mouth parting a little.

With a sigh, Gaara lowered his head and looked at the ground. "I know. But the truth is...I can't give up on him. He's like a brother to me and I can't give him up. I need to save him from the danger. And the only way of doing that is you telling me where he is and what Orochimaru has done to him." He raised his eyes again and he looked right into Sai's eyes. "As a Kage, I would order you, demand you to tell me where my apprentice is. And because you said you only follow orders, you would tell me." But he shook his head as he dipped his head lower. "But I'm not going to. I'm going to ask you to tell me where he is. I have to find him." But then his eyes flashed open and he jerked his head around. "Damn it! Kabuto's coming." He whispered harshly.

Everyone stiffened and turned to look at the door, feeling the Chakra coming closer. They knew that if they didn't get out of there now, they would be discovered. Kankuro hurried over to the door and looked out only to duck back in and close the door quietly. He was swearing rapidly before looking right at Gaara. "We're not going out that way. He's down the hall."

Sighing, Gaara rose a hand, forming a sign. "Then it's my way." He glanced over at Sai, frowning at him. "Yamato-taichou, as much as I want to, I know we can't trust him. Please, bind him. And make it quick." He told him. Yamato nodded before hurrying over to Sai and creating wood to wrap around him. He and the others were surprised that he didn't even bother fighting them. Once Sai was bound, Gaara took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he formed a sign with his hand. The sand gourd on his back practically exploded before sweeping up the room's occupants and transporting them right out of the base.

Not more than few moments later, everyone was outside again, much to Gaara's discontent. He really wanted to go back into the base and find Quoi immediately. He had to find him. But first things first, dealing with Sai. Once they had Sai sitting back down against a large boulder, the young Kazekage sent his sand right back into the base, connected to him through his Third Eye technique. He wanted to try and locate the young boy first before he went storming back into the base. That way, he'd know where to go before Kabuto or Orochimaru could go hurt him.

"Unfortunately, Sai..." Yamato had began as he stood over the ninja in black. "We're going to have to leave you here with my Clone watching you."

Naruto nodded as he slammed a fist into his other hand, still glaring at Sai. "Now, to get back to what we came here for..." he looked away back to the entrance of the base. "It's time to rescue Quoi! And get back Sasuke!" He growled under his breath which made Gaara merely glance over to him before turning to searching throughout the base with his sand.

There was a short pause as Sai looked up at Naruto before he turned his head away, looking down at the ground. "It'd be better if you gave up now." That remark made one of Gaara's eyes snap open and glare at him, as did the others. "I met Sasuke. Orochimaru is always with Sasuke. If you continue to go after him, the best you'll manage is to be torn to pieces and turned into guinea pigs. Just like Quoi is now." Sai continued making every stiffen and look at him with alarm and confusion.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Kankuro demanded his hands balling up into fists.

Sai slowly lift his eyes up and looked right into Gaara's, who now had both eyes open and was glaring at him. He didn't seem to be afraid of the young Kazekage as he should have been. Especially with that very dangerous look trained on him. "Orochimaru plans on making Quoi one of his experiments. Ever since I told him that Quoi was your student. And he means to kill him if you show up around him. You're better off staying away if you want your student to live. As far as I know, Kabuto's already starting on his tests on Quoi. I believe he said that he needed to inject some kind of poison into Quoi's system whereas he has the only antidote that can save his life. But it's a poison that he'll need the antidote every 12 hours as Kabuto had explained to me when I asked."

"YOU SON OF BITCH!" Kankuro yelled before launching forward and slammed a fist into the side of Sai's head, knocking him side wards. He would have swung again if Naruto and Yamato had not hurried forward and grabbed his arms, pulling him back. "You told Orochimaru that Quoi was Gaara's student?! What kind of guy are you?!"

But Gaara was right in between his brother and Sai, holding up a hand to him and giving him a serious look. "Kankuro, keep it down. You'll alert Orochimaru by yelling like that and who knows what he'll do to Quoi if he hears you." He told him sternly before turning sharply back to the bound ninja on the ground. "Sai, what do you mean Kabuto's injecting some kind of poison into Quoi?"

Sai lift himself back up, even though it was rather difficult. He had one eye closed making a grimace from Kankuro's punch but then he looked back at Gaara. "Just as I said. It's a poison that will cause Quoi a lot of pain and he will never be able to leave Orochimaru or Kabuto's side because he'll need the antidote every 12 hours. Or that's what Kabuto told me. Like it or not, Quoi belongs to Orochimaru now. His very life depends on it. That is, if Kabuto has injected him with the poison yet." he then shook his head as he kept his eyes blankly on Gaara. "Of course, that is if he's still alive to be Kabuto's little guinea pig. The last time I saw Quoi, Sasuke Uchiha was dragging him away to use him as target practice for his Jutsu."

Those words cut deep into Gaara's heart, causing his face to drain of color. He could already imagine what Sasuke, himself might have done to Quoi. Kankuro, on the other hand, yanked away from both Naruto and Yamato, turning back to the base with a stone cold look on his face as he began hurrying over to the entrance. "I'm going back in. Try and stop me, and you won't like the results." he growled when Naruto had tried to grab his arm but the blonde stopped immediately.

No one spoke as they watched Kankuro dive right back through the entrance though Gaara's face also hardened and he rose his hand up sharply again to form the hand sign. He began to continue his search through the base. He had to try and help Kankuro find Quoi.

"Besides...Sakura said that you care for Sasuke as though he were your own brother, Naruto." Sai continued as he turned his dark eyes onto the blonde, whose back was turned to him. "But he said he doesn't even care about you anymore. And despite that...do you really intend to go up against Orochimaru of all people, just for him. You're going to put your life on the line to bring him back? But why? It's not like you've been ordered to do this..."

There was a long silence between everyone but then slowly, Naruto turned back and faintly smiled at the memories. "Way back when, I used to hate Sasuke. But once I got used to being with him, I realized he's really a lot of fun to be around. He's the person that, more than anyone else besides Gaara, accepted me and my existence. He accepted both me and Gaara when no one else would." He tilted his head towards Gaara, who was keeping his eyes closed as he concentrated but he knew that he was listening. "Sasuke is our friend. And he represents bonds that I wanted so long to receive. So that's why. I know he wants to cut those bonds, but I refuse to. I'm going to make him see that. I'm going to make him accept that bond. He might want nothing more than to kill his own brother, and I don't blame him. Itachi murdered their entire family but him. He tortured Sasuke. So I will stand by Sasuke's side when he wouldn't!" Naruto said still forcing his smile.

"Bonds..." Sai murmured. He then lowered his head still looking at the ground. "Still, that's much reason...not if it means facing someone like Orochimaru."

Naruto just grinned as he shook his head. "If my arms get ripped off, I'll just kick him to death. If my legs get ripped off, I'll just bite him to death. If my head gets ripped off, I'll just stare at him to death. And if my eyes get ripped out, I'll just curse him to death." He lightly shrugged before moving over to Gaara's side and lightly tapped his shoulder with his knuckles. "Besides, he's scared to death of Shukaku. And if Orochimaru knows what's good for him, he'll give Quoi back right now before he ends up facing a pain worst than death." His face went very serious as he looked at Sai. "Cause Gaara's very scary when he gets pissed off. And he's starting to get pissed because Orochimaru had the gull to touch Quoi. You might not be able to tell because Gaara's really serious but I think you'll get the idea when you watch him rip Orochimaru apart." He paused for a long moment but still kept his eyes on Sai. "Even if it means getting torn to pieces, I'm going to take Sasuke back from Orochimaru no matter what! And I'm gonna help Gaara save Quoi! I don't care if you're not with us and your on that Danzo freak's side. We ARE getting Quoi and Sasuke back! With or without your help!" He growled at him.

For a moment, no one spoke as they stared at the blonde; Yamato, Sakura and Sai that is. Gaara was still concentrating on his sand within the base. He was starting to get irritated because he was having a hard time finding Quoi. The corridors of the base was so dark and there were so many twists and turns. There wasn't even a sign of Orochimaru or Kabuto. He had spotted Kankuro running through the dark, searching frantically for Quoi but the sand moved on.

"Once my clone's ready, we're going." Yamato told him now folding his hands together into a sign.

And right at that moment, Gaara's eyes snapped wide open when he had suddenly saw something within the corridor that had caught his attention but so did the rain of kunai flying at them. He knew he had to break away from his sand for now because of the threat that was coming at him and the others.

Quickly, he launched himself away from Sai as did the other three. They moved several feet away to avoid getting hit by the kunai before they all turned to glare at Kabuto as he dropped down in between them and Sai. He was smirking coldly directly at Gaara, whose face was very dark. "Sai...judging from your situation...I suppose this means you were captured." He then quickly moved towards Sai, bending down beside him. "Since it doesn't seem you've betrayed us...I'll trust you, for now." He told him before holding up a glowing blue hand and slicing through the wood binding Sai.

"Kabuto!" Gaara growled viciously through his teeth.

Sakura shook her head with the same deadly look as she watched Sai stand up and stand right by Kabuto, who was smirking at them. "This guy just doesn't give up..." She hissed between her rosy lips.

Naruto glared hatefully at Kabuto but shook his head as he stood in a crouch, looking ready to pounce at his enemy. "If you two are going to get into my way...then I'm not going to be holding back!" He then nodded towards the two clones he had standing above Kabuto and Sai, who had a Rasengan ready. They launched their selves downward at the two, moving as fast as they could.

But as soon as they got close enough. Kabuto whirled around and high kicked the Naruto clones away from him and Sai, causing them to explode into smoke and leaves. "So pointless..." He chuckled.

"Fights aren't decided till the very end, and we're just getting started!" Naruto yelled at him.

Kabuto just laughed and shook his head before straightening himself and smirking at the blonde from across the way. "No, no. That's not what I meant. Watching you makes me truly feel pity. People change." He shook his head again as he lift it higher. "Sasuke is no longer the Sasuke you used to know." He then turned his eyes over to Gaara, who was looking very ferocious right now. "As for your precious little student, he won't live long enough to see you again, Master Gaara. I can guarantee you, he'll be changing very soon. The poison that Sai just mentioned to you," he grinned cruelly. "It hasn't been injected into him yet but I will soon enough. And I can promise you, if he doesn't stay with Orochimaru-sama, he. Will. Die. Very. Horribly. And painfully. I don't know what Orochimaru-sama sees in the little brat, but I'm pretty sure he's planning on using him as a new vessel at some point."

Gaara very well nearly exploded with rage and even almost transformed into Shukaku. The demon inside was roaring with his own rage and he was screaming to be let out to kill Kabuto and then move onto eating Orochimaru before they could hurt Quoi. His eyes even started to dark and his sand skin started to crack a little.

But...something stopped him.

And that something not only startled him and his companions but Kabuto as well for Sai had ducked right around the gray haired medic and quickly trapped his arms behind his back, holding him tightly. "Wha-what are you doing?!" Kabuto exclaimed looking over his shoulder with shock.

Sai gave him a very dark look as he tightened his hold on Kabuto's arms, keeping him from moving at all. "You say people change...and here I am." He said darkly. "But there are also things that don't change...bonds. I want to see what they're really made of." He let his eyes flicker over to Naruto then over to Gaara. "As for you threatening Quoi, I found myself not liking it the very minute he showed up in the forest and Orochimaru telling us that we were taking him with us to make him an experiment. I don't understand what exactly I felt when he said that he was going to make Quoi into his little test subject, but I didn't like it. I couldn't say what was really on my mind because I would blow my cover and my mission would be for nothing. I have been planning on finding Quoi before you could do anything to him and lead him out of the base so he could escape from the beginning. But hearing that last remark, I think it's best to up my plan now."

All three, Gaara, Naruto and Sakura looked at Sai with surprise but they felt truth behind his words. They sensed that Sai had been very serious about saving Quoi and letting him go in secret. The young Kazekage felt his face soften and his respect was slowly returning for Sai, if he had any. "Sai..." He murmured.

"Sai! Just keep him still like that!" Yamato told him before quickly slapping his hands together and having rise out of the ground.

Once Kabuto was bound and sitting exactly where Sai had just been a few moments ago, everyone was standing in front of him, while glowered at them. Gaara turned his eyes onto Sai as had Naruto. They had to hand it to him, he was pretty deceiving but they were happy that he was doing it for them and their causes. "Sai...why did you...?" Naruto began.

The raven haired ninja turned and faced both of them frowning. "Why is it that you place so much value in the bonds between you and Sasuke? What exactly are those bonds you speak of...I decided I need to know the answer to these questions myself." He faked his smile as he looked at them and even let his eyes flicker over to Sakura. "According to you three, I've been unable to get rid of the bonds that formed between me and my brother." he shook his head as he kept his fake smile on his face. "If those bonds are so important to me...then I might be able to figure something out if I see the bonds between you and Sasuke, Naruto. And you and Quoi, Gaara. That's all."

There was a pause before Naruto, Gaara and Sakura faintly smiled right back at Sai. They were beginning to see a change in Sai and they were starting to understand him. The young Kazekage felt his respect for him starting to grow stronger and he was starting to will himself to liking him. "Sai...thank you." He couldn't help but murmur to the pale ninja.

"Heh, heh." Kabuto started to laugh quietly before shaking his head. "The four of you don't know the real Sasuke-kun."

The moment of peace was gone and everyone was looking at Kabuto with serious looks. They didn't really like the way he was laughing. It was too sinister and there was no doubt something that he wasn't telling them. Frowning darkly, Sakura narrowed her eyes at Kabuto. "What's so funny?" She asked him dryly.

Slowly, Kabuto lift his head to look at the five before him. He had such an evil look in his eyes that it made Gaara feel uneasy. He was smirking up at the Leaf ninja and the Kazekage with such evil. "If I'm guessing right, he'll still be in his inner chamber." He admitted about Sasuke. "After all, he had been planning on training against the boy. Orochimaru-sama and I had believed that he would severely beat the brat. But I was surprised when I didn't find them in the Dojo. Sasuke had taken the kid to his chambers and had actually cleaned his wounds, as if he had been worried about him. But that wasn't it at all. He was only getting information from the boy about Gaara, asking how strong he had become so that he would know what he'd be up against if the Kazekage had found him. He didn't even try and stop me when I found that little brat so that I could begin my tests on him. He just simply shoved him towards me and told me to do whatever I wanted to Quoi. He didn't even care what happened to him." He shook his head as he continued to smirk at them. "There are a large number of rooms strewn all throughout the base. If you end up looking in each, you might find him. Still...if you aren't careful, you might chance upon a snake as well. Orochimaru-sama keeps his quarters in the same area after all." he told them.

Gaara glared at him, knowing that there was another angle he was getting at. But knowing Kabuto, he was going to draw it out until the last minute, where it was close to being too late to do anything. Yamato just shook his head and shifted his weight. "I thank you for being so honest." he remarked dryly.

Kabuto chuckled but shook his head. "Oh, you shouldn't be thanking me." He said smirking.

"You expect us, the hunters, to become the prey then?" Yamato asked, narrowing his eyes and when Kabuto nodded he shook his head. Now, fights aren't decided till the very end."

Again Kabuto chuckled but shook his head as he lift his head a little. He looked rather nastily at them. "Oh, it's been decided already. At least the part about the boy. If you hurry, you might just be able to stop me from killing him, myself. Since that is one thing that you're after." He told them and then smiled wickedly when every one of them stiffened. He snorted with cruel laughter and shook his head. "Oh, come on. You're suppose to be an ANBU and you're suppose to be the Almighty Kazekage of the Sand Village, the One Tailed Jinchuriki host, Gaara." His eyes flickered between Yamato and Gaara still grinning evilly at them. "Surely you haven't noticed that I'm not even here. You're not the only ones who can create Clones."

'Damn it! I knew there was something fishy about him! That's a Corpse Clone! Kabuto's not even there! He's heading for wherever Quoi is!' Shukaku roared within Gaara's head.

Gaara's eyes snapped wide open as he looked at Kabuto, whose eyes surely enough went very blank and his head dropped down on his chest. He felt his entire being just freeze. "He's a corpse?!" He couldn't help but demand out loud at Shukaku, making everyone look wide eyed at him before Yamato launched forward to check. "Shukaku! You knew that and you didn't even tell me!" The young Kazekage yelled at his demon.

'Hey, hey! I didn't know just yet, all right! This idiot just smelt like death, as he always does! So I wasn't too sure until now!'

Yamato even swore as soon as he checked 'Kabuto's' vitals and then shook his head as he whirled around on his heels, looking sternly at everyone. "This isn't Kabuto! It's just a corpse he was using that looked like him! He was never here!" He told them.

"Where is Kabuto then?!" Naruto exclaimed looking at the corpse with wide eyes.

Gaara reached up and gripped a fist full of his hair before his teeth clenched tight and he dropped his hand into a sign. "He's going after Quoi! And he's probably going to warn Orochimaru about us!" He exclaimed, still very angry that he had been deceived and he didn't even notice. He was cursing himself as he immediately began picking up right where he left off and sending out his sand to search the base for Quoi or Kabuto, hoping that he'd find them very quickly. This time he was doing it more frantically.

Yamato jumped into the action immediately and pointed at the entrance. "We're moving in, now! Gaara, you best try and locate Quoi before Kabuto does and if you're lucky, Kabuto! If you find him first, feel free to kill him. He's threatening your student and a young boy so he deserves to die! We'll split up into two teams to search for Sasuke. Sakura and I will form one, Naruto and Sai on the other! If something comes up, focus your Chakra. That will be more than enough to produce a reaction in the seeds I have in your bodies. I'll be there for you at a moment's notice! Now let's hurry before we lose any more time!" he told them as he was running towards the entrance.

Sai was immediately hurrying after while Naruto and Sakura hesitated to look at Gaara as he stood right there, concentrating on his sand. "Gaara, good luck. And hurry!" The pink haired Kunoichi said before she bolted after Yamato and Sai. Naruto nodded to his best friend before hurrying after.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

As everyone began running through the base, checking the rooms of each floor, all of the members of Team Seven and seen the sand whizzing above their heads, also checking the rooms before quickly moving on. They all knew that it was a matter of time for Gaara to find Quoi. They just hoped that it wouldn't be too late. Gaara's sand was speeding through the dark corridors, serving as the young Kazekage's eyes. He could see through the grains of sand was doing his best to search the entire base with all of it. He just had to find Quoi before Kabuto did. He, however, stopped short when he found a certain room where his brother was. Using the sand, he pulled it back to look in and found Kankuro snooping through stuff.

Outside the base, Gaara frowned before he let the remaining sand with him swirl around him, transporting him quickly to that room. Once in it and appearing in the middle, he gave his older a look. "Kankuro, what are you doing?" He asked quietly.

"ARGH!" Kankuro cried out jumping at the sound of his voice and sending papers flying everywhere before whirling around and glaring at his younger brother as he clapped a hand over his chest. "DO NOT do that, Gaara! Damn it! Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?!" He gasped trying to slow his heart down.

Gaara just shook his head as he gave his older brother a serious look before moving forward a little. "Kankuro, why aren't you looking for Quoi? I thought that was what you were doing!" He said frowning.

Kankuro made a face but then looked around at the room. "Yeah. But something caught my eye as I was going." He motioned to the papers before quickly bending down and gathering them up. "I was hurrying through the dark halls looking for him and I saw Orochimaru come out of this room. I don't even think he noticed me at all because he was in such a hurry. I would've followed him but I checked this room first, just to see what he was doing. All of these papers were out on that desk. You know me. I get kind of snoopy. So I looked at them." he then looked seriously at Gaara. "I think you better have a look at these. They might interest you."

Frowning, Gaara reached out for the papers and took them from his brother before looking at them. Seeing the contents, his eyes lit up in surprise. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How in the hell did Orochimaru get a hold of this?! This must be...this information must be false!" He said looking over at Kankuro.

The Puppet Master shook his head as he looked just as serious. "I thought so too. But I think we should check it out anyway. Just to make sure this isn't true. If it is, we have to convince the kid that Orochimaru is too dangerous for him to be around. I don't know if he's there by force or will but knowing you, you're going to want to help him." He told him. And as to whatever they were talking about, Gaara nodded as he rolled up the papers and stuffed them into his sand gourd. He'd have to discuss this with the rest of Team Seven once they finished up with Orochimaru and Sasuke.

Just before anything else could be said, both of them felt a sudden burst of Chakra and not too far away either. Gaara's head jerked around before he gritted his teeth. "It's Naruto! He's fighting!" He told Kankuro before he and Kankuro burst out of the room. They had to hurry, seeing that there was a sinister signature of Chakra near Naruto and it didn't take them too long to find out where they were. They sped through the halls until they rounded a corner where Naruto was standing with Yamato and Sakura, with Orochimaru, himself at the end of the hall, smirking at them. But when he saw Gaara, his smirk was gone. "Well, well." The serpentine ninja said, now longer amused. "Looks like the Kazekage didn't take my warning very seriously. I had hoped you gotten note about the boy."

"I got it. But do you really think I was about to let you touch him anyway?" Gaara asked very darkly as he took careful steps forward until he standing right next Naruto, who glanced at him but then turned his glare back onto the tall thin Sanin standing down the hall.

Orochimaru narrowed his yellow eyes but then he turned slightly away, but kept his eyes on Gaara. "Do you honestly think I'll let you take away my new toy now? I don't think so, sand monster. Your student will soon by mine." He slowly smirked before he stepped back. "But why are you standing here gawking at me? Shouldn't you be looking for him? Kabuto did tell me that you were here and what was going on. I'm surprised that you're not still looking for your little mouse right now but glaring at me. Kabuto, on the other hand, should be with him now, ready to finish what he started and then moving him out of the base. Now, I'll let you all live for now, but do try and kill another Akatsuki member for me. But if you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of with Sai." he said before he suddenly vanished.

Gritting his teeth, Gaara quickly turned away from the others. He had to find Quoi now!

Groaning, Quoi slowly opened his eyes as he still laid on the medical bed still feeling very dizzy and tired. He knew very well that he was in trouble but he just couldn't find the energy to move, not that he actually could. The straps keeping him down were really tight and starting to make his arms and legs tingle. He had tried to pull his arm free but it felt so heavy and he just couldn't find the strength to doing anything. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, though he was fighting to stay awake.

Hearing movement, he turned his head weakly to see what it was only to see a blurred object enter the room. Frowning weakly he squinted his eyes. "Who...wh-who's...th-there?" He murmured quietly.

Deep down, he felt the fearful shudder shoot right through his spine when he heard Kabuto's familiar "hmm" before he was right next to the boy, picking up the syringe from earlier. The gray haired medic just glowered at the boy on the table as he checked the measurement of the poison in the small glass tube before putting it back down and grabbing a rubber cord. "You are such a pest, Chiquoi. I don't really know why Orochimaru-sama won't just kill you and be rid of you." He stated before tying the cord around Quoi's arm so that the veins would pop out a little. He picked up the poisonous needle again. "But then again, he's probably doing it to spite that stupid monster of yours." he said dryly.

Quoi couldn't really find his voice to reply. He just tried to move his arm but found himself too tired to do it.

Kabuto smirked coldly down at him as he flicked the boy's arm above a vein a few times before readying the needle. "Fight all you want, you snot nose brat. There's really nothing you can do, or anyone else now. You belong to Orochimaru-sama from now on." He told him coldly before starting to move the needle into place. But suddenly, something wrapped around his wrist, something black that made him stop with surprise. "Wha-?" He muttered in surprise when he saw that it was a black snake.

WHAM!

There was a loud crash as something very heavy and metallic crashed very hard against Kabuto's head, causing him to fly off to the side and hit the ground, quite unconscious. The object that caused this happened to be a metallic chair. And holding that metallic chair was Sai.

"I already warned you not to touch him again." The stoic, emotionless ninja said before dropping the chair and looking at the practically unconscious Quoi. He frowned at him before quickly joining his side, all the while waving at his black ink snake to bind Kabuto's wrists, which did so. His attention was mostly on the boy on the bed. He looked him over, checking for any injuries before prying open his eyes and noting how dilated they were. Frowning even more, he glanced around at the table behind him and spied the used up needle and the bottle of sedatives. Shaking his head, he turned back to Quoi and began undoing the straps. "It's all right, Quoi. You're safe now." He told the moaning boy.

"...S...Sai...?" Quoi moaned trying to look at him but his head couldn't stay up for too long.

The emotionless ninja just nodded as he finally managed to free his arms and legs before lifting him up a little into a sitting position. He then began digging into his back until he found a small bottle. Using his teeth, he pried it open before taking out a small pill and popping it into Quoi's mouth. He had tilt the boy's head back to make sure he swallowed it before turning slightly around and pulled him up onto his back. "Let's get you out of here. But first," His eyes grew very serious as he immediately started out of the room. "To find Sasuke Uchiha."

The ninja in black hurried through the dark halls, pausing only once to look down at tiny black ink mice, which squeaked at him before starting down the hall again. He just watched them for a second before following after them. He followed the mice until he came to a door. Frowning, he quietly opened it and peered inside where he could see a dark figure lying on a bed. And judging by the marking on the back, it was Sasuke Uchiha.

"It'll use the rest of my Chakra but I'll use my Shadow Clone jutsu to search. So we can split up again!" Naruto told the rest of the Team while Gaara had gone back to using his sand to search the base.

It was just moments after Orochimaru had taken off and leaving them to do whatever they wanted. Though, Gaara had immediately sent out his sand to find Quoi. He was really starting to feel the pressure against him while Kankuro was watching him with worry. The older brother knew very well that the younger was starting to get very antsy and very worried. He had never really seen him scared before and he could see the fear in Gaara's eyes as he was having his sand frantically searching for his student.

"Hey, what's this?" Sakura asked as she picked up Sai's brother's book and noticed a new picture in the very center of the book. Her face brightened when she saw that it was the picture of Sai, only this time it was of him holding hands with the white haired boy and they were both smiling.

Naruto turned and looked over at her before he too was smiling and shaking his head. "Sai...He finally remembered...he wanted to show that to his brother. The picture of their dreams." He told her.

"They're both smiling." Sakura said rather fondly as she looked down at the picture with her own smile.

Of course, Gaara really didn't have an interest in what she was looking at. He was too busy looking for Quoi to care. But as his sand was speeding through the base, it halted in the door way of one room. He had caught sight of something in the room through the sand, causing it to draw back and look in. His eyes snapped wide open after seeing what it was and then made him frown. Of course, Kankuro had been watching and he gave him a questionable look. Slowly, he shook his head.

"Sai..." Naruto continued on with the conversation with Sakura. "Once he finished that picture...for the first time, he smiled for real. Straight from his heart."

"This is..." Yamato suddenly spoke up sounding very surprise but horrified.

Now that had Gaara's attention. He opened his eyes and looked over at the ANBU captain, who had Sai's bag in his hand and a small black book in the other. There was a look of surprise on his face, yet he also looked very uneasy. Frowning, the young Kazekage lowered his hand and turned towards Yamato. "Is there a problem?" He asked, seriously.

Yamato turned sharply and looked directly at him with a very stern look on his face before he showed him the book with the others. They all looked to see pictures of ninja in the book. Some of the pictures were crossed out with large black X's though. "This was in Sai's bag..." He began to explain as they looked at it. "This is the book an ANBU member uses to list his assassination targets. A 'Hit List' if you will." he told them.

Gaara's eyes flashed. He knew very well what that meant.

"Why are all of those entries crossed out?" Sakura asked frowning.

Yamato's eyes narrowed a little lazily but didn't get rid of their dark as he began flipping through the pages. "It probably means that the targets have already been eliminated." He informed them.

Frowning again, Gaara's eyes kept on the book in the ANBU's hand, staring at all of pictures of the ninja that had been crossed out. More than half of them were. But still, why would Sai have brought this on his mission? Did he really expect to see one of his targets on it? But as Naruto, Sakura, and Kankuro were pondering the book, he saw exactly what Yamato did and his eyes snapped wide open. 'What...! No!' He thought with an alarmed look. 'So that's what he was up to!'

On the page right before them, and catching Naruto, Sakura and Kankuro's eyes and they too gawked with shock, was Sasuke Uchiha's picture. He was a target.

"Why...would Sasuke's face be on...Sai's hit list?!" Naruto asked, though he sounded as if he already had a hint of why.

Yamato's face hardened just like Gaara's as they looked at Sasuke's picture with serious looks. They both knew the answer to that question. "It hasn't been crossed out yet..." The ANBU captain stated, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "So that's it...it all makes sense now." He glanced up when Naruto looked at him with confusion. He shook his head at the blonde still looking down at the picture. "Sai...his mission wasn't to become a go-between for Orochimaru and Danzo. Not at all. Sai's real top secret mission was..."

"The assassination of Sasuke." Gaara finished very dangerously.

Both Sakura and Naruto looked horrified at their best friend before slowly shaking their heads. Kankuro was just frowning as he took in the information. He didn't like it any more than the rest but he was more preoccupied with finding Quoi instead. He was just wondering why Gaara stopped looking, seeing that he wasn't concentrating any more. Naruto shook his head as he just looked at Yamato and Gaara with disbelief. "That...that's just not possible! I mean, he just said that he was going to rescue Sasuke! And he really was smiling from his heart! He really has changed! He wouldn't do...!'

Gaara wished he could agree with his best friend but even he was having his doubts now. He knew that Sai must have played them. But still something wasn't really adding up. Sakura agreed with Yamato though as she placed a very dark look on her face. "But if it was all staged just to trick you, Naruto...then..."She was saying.

"Such a tactic would be more than a possibility for the owner of this hit list. Just look. This Shinobi listed next to Sasuke," Yamato stated showing them the picture. "He's a Jounin from Kirigakure that had taken hard line stance in relation to Konoha. So Sai was assigned the task of disposing those who stand to harm Konoha's interest and Sasuke was listed as one of those individuals." He told them.

"In order to reach one's goals...now that you mention it...after I hit Sai he..." Sakura was saying.

Yamato shook his head as he looked around at the three. "Danzo was after what is to become Orochimaru's new body...he intended to take Sasuke out of the picture. And to accomplish this, he attempted to move Sai in near Orochimaru. He didn't betray Konoha after all. He was working for us...in his own militaristic fashion. We need to find Sai now!" He told them.

And as soon as those words were out of his mouth, everyone was bolting in many directions to look for Sai. Both Gaara and Kankuro were running to find Quoi though. They would try and find Sai as they looked for the young boy. But Quoi was their highest priority right now. Gaara sent sand flying through the base, not caring if he attracted attention now. He was starting to lose concentration by worrying so much about his student now. He hadn't really been worrying too much about Kabuto anymore. Not after what he had seen.

"Gaara, why'd you stop looking for Quoi back there for a minute?" Kankuro suddenly asked.

The young Kazekage shook his head as he kept on searching but merely glanced over at his older brother. "Kabuto's out for the count. My sand found him unconscious in his medical lab. Someone attacked him and I'm sure that was where Quoi had once been. Someone now has him but I'm not sure who. But I will find out. Hurry, Kankuro!" He told him before they picked up their speed. But as they did, Gaara's eyes flashed and he tried to stop. He heard Shukaku roar within his head with warning and he knew that there was danger near by. "Kankuro! Stop!" He barked at his older brother.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion that rocked the entire base and caused the walls and ceiling to collapse all around them. Kankuro let out a yell as he came to a staggering halt before falling onto his back and covering his head. Even Gaara nearly staggered but his sand gourd exploded from his back before forming a strong barrier around the two to protect them from the collapse. The sand was what was keeping them from being crushed by the few tons of Orochimaru's base.

"Wh-what...what was that?" Kankuro coughed as he pushed himself up into a crouch within the sand shield.

Gaara frowned as he tried to concentrate on the Chakra signature he was feeling but then he waved his hands and the sand shoved the stone off of them. They both climbed out of their little nest of sand and stone before looking around. More than half of the base had just been destroyed. And they were only on the edge of the hole in the ground.

'Gaara! Over there! Sai and Quoi are both of there! But someone's with them!' Shukaku roared at his host.

The young Kazekage, of course, bolted in the direction where Shukaku directed him. He heard Kankuro give a shout before hearing him hurry after him. The two of them ran through the large chunks of stone, trying to find where Sai and Quoi were. Gaara's heart was thumping hard against his chest as he tried to feel the Chakra signatures and he nearly came to a halt when he finally found a small clearing. He could see Sai on his hands and knees on the ground, but it actually looked like he was protecting something. He was bent over Quoi. But slowly, he was climbing to his feet while trying to stay standing over him, who wasn't moving at all. For a brief moment, Gaara thought that his student was dead. 'No...' He thought full of dread.

'Don't worry. He's alive. He seems to be...I dunno. Out cold though.' Shukaku reassured him.

Either way, Gaara and Kankuro was hurrying over to where Sai was standing. They were both giving Sai the darkest looks. They hadn't forgotten so easily that once again he had deceived them, stating that he wanted to help them get Sasuke back and then they find out that he was there to kill him.

However, a flash of pink told them that Sakura beat them to him. They both watched Sakura rush right up to Sai and violently grab the collar of his jacket and glare at him viciously. "YOU! What the hell are you after?!" She yelled at the pale ninja. "How many times do you plan to stab us in the back before you're ha..."

But as she had been yelling, Gaara came to a sudden halt when he sensed someone close by. And that signature he recognized very well. Alarmed, he stopped running before jerking his head upward to see a figure standing in the light of the sun, over shadowing them. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was him.

"Ah...is that Sakura?" came Sasuke's cool voice.

Like Gaara had, Sakura froze with wide eyes before she slowly turned her head upward and she saw him too. Her hand released Sai's jacket and fell somewhat trembling. She looked just as stunned as her red haired boyfriend, and Kankuro who had hurried over and grabbed at Quoi while Sakura had been busy yelling at Sai. He hadn't even noticed Sasuke Uchiha standing on the lip of the crater until he heard Sakura murmur that name. Frowning, he looked up at her then over to where she was looking and then he too froze with Quoi safely in his arms. And even Naruto froze when he had entered the clearing with Yamato. All eyes were now turned upward onto Sasuke as he looked down at them. None of them could believe it.

"Sasuke..." Naruto murmured in wonder before his face slowly brightened.

Sasuke just looked back at him through dark eyes but he stood stone still. "Naruto...so you're here too." His head tilted slightly and his dark eyes met Gaara's. He didn't look too surprised to see him. No, he actually smirked as if he had been expecting him. "And Gaara." His eyes flickered back over to the others and he saw Kankuro. "Kankuro is here? Does that mean Kakashi's here as well?"

It was at that moment Yamato decided to step forward, catching Sasuke's attention. "Unfortunately, Kakashi-san couldn't be here. But I'm here in his place." He stated as he stood Sai, Sakura and Naruto. Kankuro was crouched down behind them still holding Quoi. Slowly, Gaara walked over to stand beside the ANBU Captain and looked up at Sasuke. However, Sai slowly reaching up and pulling out his small bladed katana caught his attention as well as Sakura's. They both looked at him and noted how serious he looked. He didn't look particularly happy for someone so emotionless.

"Sai! I knew it!" Sakura exclaimed, glaring at him.

Everyone glanced over at the pale ninja on the end and their faces hardened. It was no doubt that he was threatening Sasuke, who on the other hand, just narrowed his eyes and looked at them blankly. "So...he's my replacement, is he? He was sprouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me...one more pansy for the group. Quite the fit I'm sure." His words only surprised the entire lot besides Yamato and Sai. Naruto, Sakura and Gaara frowned as they looked over at Sai.

"It's true that my top secret mission was indeed the assassination of Sasuke Uchiha. But those orders don't matter anymore. Now I want to think and act for myself. Because of Naruto-kun and Gaara-sama, I feel like I might be able to remember something. How I used to feel. Something which I can't help but feeling was very important to me..." He slowly shook his head. "I may not know you all that well...but there's a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san and even Gaara-sama chase after you with so much passion. In order to prevent their bonds with you from breaking. In order to keep them intact, they're doing everything they can. I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself. But you, Sasuke-kun, should know why..." His head somewhat tilted to look over his shoulder to look over at Quoi. "Quoi is safe and unharmed, Gaara-sama. I stopped Kabuto from injecting him. He's only been sedated." He told the young Kazekage.

"Sure, I did know. That's why I severed them." Sasuke spoke up rather coldly, a voice that made all eyes turn upward to him and saw how dangerous he was looking at them now. "I have other bonds I carry. Fraternal bonds, forged through hate. Having too many bonds causes one to lose focus. Weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."

There was a long silence throughout the entire crater before Gaara felt his face darkening. He knew who Sasuke was talking about. He knew it was Itachi Uchiha. After meeting the man, himself, he felt that hate. But...he remembered that Itachi had spared his life, almost demanding him to save his former comrade from one of the greatest threats in the world. And he spent the last two months planning a way of respecting his rescuer's wishes, even if he had been apart of the group that tried to kill him. He had wanted to find and save Sasuke from Orochimaru. But now...listening to Sasuke, he knew it was all for nothing. This was Sasuke's choice to be apart of Orochimaru.

"If that's true..." Naruto's voice spoke up, making the red head glance over at his best friend. The blonde's head slowly lowered and he had a very angry but pained look slowly growing on his face. "If that's true...then why...why didn't you kill me back then?!" He suddenly yelled, now glaring at Sasuke with anger. "Is that what you call severing bonds?! Sasuke!"

No one spoke for a very long time as they looked between Sasuke and Naruto but with grim looks. Sasuke, on the other hand, let out a sigh before his eyes closed and he looked impatient. "The reason is simple...and it isn't that I wasn't able to sever my bonds with you..." He went quiet for a minute before reopening his eyes and looking at Naruto. "I simply didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans." He said, surprising almost everyone.

"Wh...what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked confused.

Gaara's face darkened as the only answer he could think of came to his mind. His head dipped downward a little but he kept his eyes on Sasuke. "Itachi Uchiha." He growled, getting a few eyes to turn to him.

Sasuke's eyes had been one of them. He narrowed his dark eyes onto the young Kazekage. He looked a little smug but still rather blank as if he didn't care about anything. "There's no need for me to tell you..." His eyes narrowed even more. "The boy told me the truth, Gaara, when I ordered him to tell me about how strong you have become." He received some really surprised but confused looks. And even Gaara had received a few, though his own eyes narrowed a little as if asking Sasuke what he was talking about. "Your so called student told me that my brother was the one who saved your life, not Sasori of the Red Sand." He said coldly.

"...?!" Everyone looked at Gaara with surprise and alarm, looking to him as if asking him if that was true.

Somewhat forlorn, Gaara's head dipped down lower. He knew it was going to come out sooner or later. He knew he probably should have told Naruto and Sakura sooner though and not find out from Sasuke, himself. He knew this was going to cause a little bit of a reaction later on.

"Gaara, is that true? Was it Itachi who saved you instead of Sasori?" Sakura asked tilting her head with an alarmed look on her face.

Slowly, Gaara nodded but he didn't take his eyes off of Sasuke but dipped his head lower until he was looking up at him barely. He knew he'd better be honest with his friends. "It's true. It had been Itachi Uchiha who spared my life. I don't know why he did it but I will find out. I didn't tell you who it really was at that time because we were all stressed out as it was. But...before the Akatsuki attempted to extract Shukaku, he did make a request. That I find Sasuke with Naruto and save him from Orochimaru." He said dryly. "And that's what I intend to do. And we will do it together."

Still rather surprised, Naruto stared at his best friend, somewhat frustrated that he hadn't told them the truth. But hearing those last words, he nodded with determination and looked back at Sasuke.

Sasuke just looked dully at them but impatient. He only shook his head. "How stirring, Gaara." His eyes then flickered back over to Naruto. "Still, the one thing I can say to you is that back then...I chose to spare your life at nothing more than a whim of mine." He suddenly vanished making everyone grow very tense, only to appear right in front of Naruto, looking back behind him. His very speed had even stunned Gaara. He hadn't even seen Sasuke move. Everyone just stared at the raven haired ninja with unease. "Come to think of it...isn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours...?" He slowly lift his eyes and met Naruto's, looking only at him. "If you had the time to go around looking for me, you would have been better off training. Don't you think...Naruto?"

The back of Gaara's neck prickled and he sensed a threat. Even Shukaku was growling. 'Sasuke...' he thought gritting his teeth.

"And that's why this time..." Sasuke continued before he reached behind him and grabbed the handle of his katana and pulled it. "You're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine."

Gaara's eyes flashed dangerous and he was already taking the step forward. He heard Naruto say something right back to him but his rage for Sasuke blocked out the words. He knew very well that Sasuke's intention was to kill Naruto and he was not going to allow it. Not his best friend! He watched as Sasuke swung the katana around to stab right into Naruto's back, all the while his sand was now lashing outwards.

But once again, Sai's very own actions stopped him.

The ninja in black had rushed over and caught Sasuke's wrist tightly with his own while giving Sasuke a very dark look. Neither raven haired young men seemed to notice all of the sand swirling around them, looking ready to attack one of them. They were just glaring at each other. "Your choice of defense...quite correct." Sasuke said coldly.

But even Naruto was suddenly moving. He quickly jumped up into the air and flipped right over Sasuke's arm. This only had everyone moving quickly. Yamato was launching wood out of his hand towards Sasuke while Gaara's sand was doing the same, all the while, barking at Kankuro to get Quoi out of the way. He stiffened a little when he watched Sasuke close his eyes before reopening them to reveal the Sharingan. The familiar pinch of unease made him stop from moving. He cursed himself for still letting the Sharingan effect him like it did. Why was he still so weak against the Sharingan?!

Suddenly there was a burst of electricity all around Sasuke, knocking both Naruto and Sai back away from them and even making Yamato, Sakura and Gaara flinch away from them. The electric bolts that Sasuke was emitting was unbearably painful. Gaara's sand swirled around them but seemed to be having a hard time hovering around Sasuke as those Sharingan eyes turned over onto Gaara and a smirk curled on his face. However, his head jerked around when Sakura raced at him, throwing a fist back.

"Sasuke! I'm going to stop you with my own power!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke only narrowed his eyes before his katana in his hand began to spark with electricity. He was no doubt going to strike her with it. But as Sakura moved too close, Yamato was quickly in between them with his own kunai out to fight him but too many things happened at once. Sasuke's katana sliced through the kunai and penetrated Yamato's shoulder, sending him flying back into a chunk of stone. "Your choice of defense...quite the mistake." He shook his head before looking over at Gaara, who was glaring at him. "You see, this sword of Kusanagi I hold here is a little special. It's the kind that can't be blocked. Not even by your sand shield." he said coldly.

"I'm willing to take that bet, Sasuke." Gaara said just as coldly as the sand swirled even faster around them. "I won't let you hurt Sakura like you were just about to."

Narrowing his eyes a little, Sasuke turned slightly to stare him right in the eyes but then let his dark eyes flicker over to Sakura then back. He seemed to be trying to figure out something but then his lips curved upward into a smirk. He seemed to have got the idea. "Oh...I see. So the little weakling wasn't lying. He mentioned that there was something between you two. I didn't actually believe it." His eyes met Sakura's, who was staring at him with horror. "So, you've been playing around with Gaara, Sakura? Or have you really moved on from that night when you said that you were in love me?"

Those words seemed to have stung Sakura a little for she flinched a little and balled up her fists together. She seemed very unsure of how to answer that. "Sa-Sasuke..." She whispered, looking right into Sasuke's dark eyes.

Hearing the way she said Sasuke's name made Gaara's heart clench and he looked right at her, almost painfully. He knew he had heard a little guilt in her tone. 'No...she's regretting getting with me. She still loves him then.' He thought painfully. 'And...she really said that she loved him that night, didn't she?' He ignored Shukaku's threatening growl.

Sasuke slowly shook his head as he continued to look right into Sakura's eyes. "I never would have guessed that you would have moved on. I always took you as the one who lingered on your feelings for me. Didn't you always want to be with me? Simply amazing. And here I thought you would have waited for me to return for you. How do you know I wouldn't have? After I kill my brother, I still need to revive my clan? How do you know I didn't chose you? But you really surprised me, Sakura. Falling in love with a monster like Gaara?" He said rather coldly. And even the words seemed to lash out at Gaara, making him wince a little.

Sakura's eyes flashed before her guilty look was gone in an instant. She dropped her hands to her sides and she glared at Sasuke, as if his words had offended her. And it was like they did, other wise she wouldn't have glared at him. She merely glanced over at Gaara before lifting her head and glaring at him. "Shut up, Sasuke!" She hissed dangerously, making him blink. "If you think I hold the same feelings for you like I once did, you are DEAD wrong. I love Gaara, got that?! And there is no way in hell I would revive your clan! Any clan I revive is going to be Gaara's!" She told him, making Sasuke's face darkened in though.

But before Sasuke could say anything in reply, he was looking away from her and seeing Naruto now climbing up to his feet.

Once again, Naruto was making a little bit of a transformation. His eyes had flashed to fiery red and the markings on his face turned black. He was turning again and that made Gaara uneasy. 'Oh, not again.' He thought through his unease. But then he noticed the look on his best friend's face changed as if something had happened. And even Sasuke's face had changed. It was like they had just had a surprising conversation. His eyes flashed open with surprise and it took only a second to realize that it wasn't just something that happened between Naruto and Sasuke. It was the fact that Yamato slammed his hands together and had wood shove the katana right out of his shoulder, surprising Sasuke and forcing him back a step. Immediately, Yamato was on his feet. Sasuke, on the other hand, had jumped back up onto the lip of the crater, looking down at them.

"Sasuke! Why don't you get it?! Your body's going to be stolen by Orochimaru anytime now!" Naruto yelled up at him as he stood up.

There was a brief silence but then Sasuke's eyes narrowed a little down at the blonde. "If it happens, it happens." He simply said in a cool tone. He just shook his head. "You're still quite the kid, Naruto. Revenge means everything to me. As long as I can have my revenge, I could not care less what happens to me or the whole world for that matter. Let me make it clear for you. For both me and Orochimaru right now, killing Itachi would be impossible. But if I am able to accomplish my goals, through nothing more than offering Orochimaru this body of mine...then he can have my life and my after life for all I care."

"That's enough talk." Yamato said as he climbed to his feet, glaring coldly up at Sasuke. "Naruto and Sakura, with the two of you here, I had hoped not to have to resort to any of my cruder methods. But unfortunately, it's time I get serious." He said very coldly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes just as dangerously at him before he shook his head. "Konoha indeed...I'm through with you..." He then slammed his hands together and formed a sign before shooting his hand up into the air. "Now things end...!"

But someone grabbed him around the wrist, stopping him from doing anything. Everyone was surprised to see that it was Orochimaru, himself. He was looking down at Sasuke rather seriously as if he disapproved of what Sasuke was about to do. "Now, now. There's no need to use "that" Jutsu, Sasuke-kun." He told him. His lips curved upward only a little as if he was amused once again.

"Remove your hand." Sasuke said very coldly, his eyes narrowing dangerously at him.

Then it was right at that time, Kabuto appeared right from out behind a chunk of stone and he looked very annoyed. He was carrying something small and it only took Gaara a moment to realize what it was. His eyes flashed and he jerked around to see Kankuro slumped against the stone, looking pretty much unconsciousness. He had been hit by something very hard but Quoi was no longer in his arms. Kabuto was carrying Quoi, once again. "There you go again...forgetting exactly who it is you are talking to..." The gray haired medic said as he shifted Quoi from under his arm.

"I have no reason to stop." Sasuke said coldly.

"Kabuto! Give my student back!" Gaara yelled, his eyes narrowed dangerously, making Orochimaru and Sasuke glance over at him.

But Kabuto completely ignored the young Kazekage and looked right at Sasuke, his head dipping down. "You know quite well what Akatsuki is up to. We want to have our guests here from Konoha and the Kazekage take care of as many of them as possible." He stated, before using his other hand to dig into the pouch at his waist for something. "If the other Akatsuki members get in your way...your plans for revenge could hit a snag, right?" He asked, still trying to find something in his pouch.

Sasuke gave Kabuto a dangerous look. "That's quite the pathetic excuse..." His Sharingan eyes flickered down at Quoi, who was groaning and starting to wake up. "And why do have the weak brat? He isn't worth the effort, Kabuto." he said coldly.

Kabuto ignored that question as he took something out but it was rather hard to tell what it was from the angle that Gaara was in. He just kept his eyes on Sasuke. Though in truth, it looked like a needle. "But surely you'd allow it if it meant increasing the chances of your revenge even by 1 percent. Right?" He asked, tilting his head.

There was a long silence as Sasuke continued to give him a very cold look before he jerked his hand right out of Orochimaru's grip and lowered it. That was the only answer that Orochimaru needed. The Sanin smirked and nodded before looking down at the group below and seeing how tense they all were as they eyed the needle in Kabuto's hand. It didn't take them too much thoughts to realize that that had to be the poison that Kabuto had intended to inject into Quoi in the first place. "Now then, Kazekage Monster," Orochimaru said as he smirked down at the red head. "I understand that you want your little mouse back, and I would grant it. But I've found myself fond of your precious little boy. You know as well as I do that if you make even the tiniest step towards us, Kabuto would inject the poison into him. I'm going to make it even more clearer to you, that if you do want him to live, you will stop following me. I promise you. I will take very good care of him."

"Orochimaru!" snarled Gaara his fists tightening into balls but he knew that he couldn't move. And neither could the others. They all just watched helplessly as Kabuto took a step back with Quoi, yet waving the needle a little with his own smirk as if taunting them. "Just give him back!" The young Kazekage demanded, even though there was very thick emotion within his tone.

"No, I think not. I think I want to play around with this kid anyway." Kabuto said smirking before holding up the needle full of poison. "And if you come after us again, I think we'll have to give you an example of what might happen." He said before starting to place the needle between his fingers and making ready to stabbing the needle into Quoi.

"Quoi!" Both Sakura and Naruto cried out.

But before the sharp thin metal could even touch the boy, there was a flash of silver and the syringe was cut into two, surprising Kabuto. As well as everyone else.

The medical ninja watched the syringe fall into two pieces before he lift his head and looked over at Sasuke who was holding his katana tightly in his hand, only a residue of the poison on the blade after he sliced through the glass tube. His eyes were very hard as he continued to glare down at the group below but then he slowly lift his head and rose the katana to point at the gray haired medic. "Put the boy down." He said coldly. "We don't need him. He's weak and pathetic. Not even worthy. Orochimaru, the boy is nothing but trouble and if we do take him with us, Gaara will continue to hunting us for him. Even if we kill him. Sooner or later, he'll unleash the One Tail and you will be dealing with that." He slowly turned his head and looked right at Orochimaru, who didn't look pleased. "And we all know that you want to avoid it." He warned him dangerously.

There was a long silence as everyone stared at Sasuke with surprise but then Orochimaru let out a hiss of annoyance and glanced over at Gaara. He knew that Sasuke was right. He knew very well that the One Tailed Jinchuriki would keep hunting for him until he retrieved his student or avenged a possible death. Either way, he had to give the boy up. "Kabuto, drop the child. We're leaving him behind." He said dryly before he seemed to vanish with in smoke, as did Sasuke. Annoyed, Kabuto did as he was told. He literately dropped Quoi right off the long drop off before vanishing just like they did.

Gaara, on the other hand, was rushing forward as fast as he could. He was not going to let his precious student fall and seriously get hurt, or worst. And without any effort at all, he caught Quoi right in his arms, hugging him close to his chest. He merely looked down at his student with concern before hurrying back over to Sakura. "Sakura...!"

With a nod, Sakura was already moving over and kneeling beside the both of them. She placed her hands onto Quoi's chest and began sending her Chakra right through his body. She sent her Chakra through every inch, looking for any traces of poison or infection. She had found the cut on his arm but it was cleaned and well bandaged but as for the rest of him, she shook her head as she looked up at Gaara, who was looking at his student with concern. "He's fine, Gaara. There's nothing wrong with him. There's only a trace of sedatives in his system but they're fading away faster than I've seen. I really don't understand it. But he's safe."

Sai then dug into his pouch and pulled out a small container full of black pills, catching their attention. He just looked right at Sakura. "The sedatives will be gone very soon and he'll wake up. I gave him one of these when I found him." He received very suspicious looks but he shook his head. "Anti-Sedatives, if you wish to call them. The Root ANBU are required to carry them for caution. If a Root member is placed under the influence of sedatives, we are to immediately take one of these. They eat away the sedative serum that is injected into us." he informed them.

Sighing with relief, Gaara slowly nodded before looking down at Quoi's face. He watched him for a moment before he turned his head when he heard Naruto making a sound as if he crying. He just looked at his best friend and watched him then looked at Sakura, seeing the tears in her eyes. "Crying isn't going to bring Sasuke back, you know." Sakura told Naruto but she still cried with him anyway. "I'm here too. We'll both get stronger. Together."

"There's almost another half year left...and three's better than two, obviously." Sai spoke as he climbed to his feet and offered them a smile. It was a fake, but there was something real about it too. "Besides, I'm pretty strong myself, you know." He told them.

"Make that four." Gaara said as he pushed himself to his feet, still holding Quoi close to him.

"Five!" Kankuro growled as soon as he finally came to and kicked himself for failing, once again to protecting Quoi. He had a very vicious and pissed off look on his face. He was very angry that Kabuto had somehow managed to sneak up on him and hit him over the head with a stone. But he wasn't going to tolerate it anymore. "I am so going to kill Kabuto for hitting me and threatening, Quoi. So make me five." He growled again.

Naruto climbed to his feet and faintly smiled as he wiped his tears from his face before looking around at everyone with his cheerful smile. "Heh, thanks a lot, guys." He told them.

Gaara just nodded with satisfaction as he looked up into the sky. His face was hard again but with determination. He was going to end this with Orochimaru and with the Akatsuki. He was not going to allowed anyone getting hurt again. 'Shukaku, you will have your snake meat soon enough.' He thought dangerously to the demon, who only chuckled just as sinisterly as his host.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

It was as soon as they got back to the Leaf Village and made their reports when Quoi actually did wake up. And it was during Yamato's report to Tsunade when he finally managed to open his eyes and get a good look around. Kankuro had stayed by his side for the last two days, seeing that was how long it took to get back to the village. He hardly ever left his side at all. It had worried Gaara to some limit about Quoi and he couldn't help but pace a lot while his brother stayed by his student. It took Sakura's reassurance that it was just the mixture of the excitement and the sedatives that caused Quoi to be so tired. She told them that all he needed was a lot of rest.

So when he woke up in the Hokage's office, still resting in Kankuro's arms, Quoi had been pretty surprised and very relieved. He even started a little of the water works as he hugged Kankuro rather tightly before launching himself over at Gaara, nearly saying sorry fifty times a minute.

Tsunade wasn't annoyed by the racket that the apprentice was making. She actually understood very well after what Yamato told her that happened to the boy. She just listened to the rest of the report while merely glancing over at Gaara as he kept an arm around his apprentice. But when it was over, she let out a sigh. "I see." She said with her hands folded in front of her. "And so..."

"We're not giving up." Naruto interrupted with determination.

Tsunade let out a small snort and she bowed her head down at little. Very well. I guess I should tell you about your next mission then." She stopped herself as she lift her eyes and looked directly at Gaara though, frowning seriously. "Before I do, there is something I need to know. Why did you let us continue believing that it was Sasori who spared your life and not tell us the truth about Itachi Uchiha?' She asked, somewhat annoyed with the young Kazeage.

Gaara looked away towards the window. He honestly didn't know why he hadn't told them the truth. He knew he should have corrected them before when they even made their discovery of betray within the Akatsuki. But he could only figure out one reason. "I suppose I wanted to find out for myself first. I didn't understand why Itachi spared my life. And I still don't. I could say that I didn't tell anyone that it had been Itachi Uchiha because everyone was still recovering from losing Chiyo-baasama. It was not the right time. But I believe the real reason I can give you is that I wanted to find out from Itachi myself of why he spared my life. I have to know what he wanted other than I saving Sasuke from Orochimaru." he told everyone.

No one spoke for a long time as they all looked at him. They knew that he had his reasons and they couldn't really blame him for keeping it from them after that statement. Tsunade sure thought so because she was nodded as she lowered her hands to the desk. "I understand. I don't suppose you'll be going back to the Sand Village now that this mission is over, are you?" She asked.

"No." Gaara simply said, making everyone just look at him. He turned his head towards Kankuro giving him a nod. Then he watched as his older brother reached into his pouch and pull out several rolled up pieces of paper. "While searching for my apprentice," Quoi winced when his master mentioned that. "Kankuro came across several documents belonging to Orochimaru. We have a reason to believe," The young Kazekage looked directly at Naruto when he said this. ", That Orochimaru has a Tailed Bijuu in his possession."

"What?!" Naruto, Sakura and even Tsunade exclaimed, now very surprised. All three, Yamato, Sai and Shizune just looked stunned and Quoi was frowning in confusion.

Kankuro just nodded as he walked over to Tsunade's desk and offered her the papers, which Naruto nearly rushed forward to take a look for himself. That is until Tsunade shot him a warning look, stopping him immediately. But then she looked at the papers that Kankuro just gave her and looked them over. "It says on these papers that Orochimaru is possession of a boy who has a connection with the Third Tailed Jinchuriki. He's been using the kid as test subject. It even tells us what he's been having Kabuto do to this kid." The Puppet Master said.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she read on but then she looked at Gaara. She stared at him for a minute before she let out a long sigh and looked at the others of Team Seven. "So, I'm guessing you're going to go find him, yourself?" She asked.

Gaara nodded only once. "I don't like the idea that Orochimaru is using a Jinchuriki as a test subject. If he has this Bijuu in his control, it could be serious trouble for Konoha." He told them.

"I understand. But how do you really know that this information isn't a trap for something, Gaara? It could be the Akatsuki is setting a trap for you with Orochimaru's help. And how do we know that the Third Tail isn't caught yet?" Tsunade asked, frowning.

Gaara only shook his head, glancing side wards at Sai. "I became aware of the Third Tail while we were chasing after Sai. Shukaku clearly told me that he could sense the Third Tail somewhere close by. I would have went to investigated it myself if not for my little distraction." he stated, his eyes trailing over to Quoi, who lowered his head. "My student, however, is far more important than going to look for the Third Tail. But now that he's safe, I think I will determine if the information is false or not." he told the Hokage.

There was a very long silence before Tsunade slolwy nodded. "I see. So you will be going after Orochimaru then." She said, though it was more like a question.

"No." Gaara told her as he glanced off to the side as if looking at something. "As far as Shukaku can tell, the Third Tail isn't around Orochimaru right now. I'm not entirely sure where it's going to be, but with Shukaku to guide me, I'll find the boy who's connected to the Tailed Bijuu. So I won't be returning to Suna just yet."

"Wait a minute!" Naruto said now moving forward, bright eyed. "If you're going after one of the Tailed Bijuu, then I..."

Shaking his head, Gaara looked over at his best friend, rather seriously. "Naruto, I would love for you to come with me. But there are things you need to do. Finding Sasuke, for one. Tsunade is about to give you a new mission. This one, I'm giving myself." He turned his eyes over to Quoi, before he turned fully towards him. "As for Quoi, I don't think it wise if I take you with me. It'll be more than likely..."

Quoi shook his head as he lift his head and forced a smile. "Master Gaara, I'm not going. I know. I don't even think I should be your apprentice anymore." his words not only surprised Gaara but everyone. But the boy shook his head as he let out a sigh. "I caused you so much trouble. I don't deserve learning from you. Not until I'm actually ready." He took a deep breath. "While I was that snake freak's prisoner, I kind of...got the real picture of being a real ninja. I'm not ready to go out into real battles like I wanted to be. I realized that all I did was cry and be scared. I know you said it's okay to cry but...it wasn't the right time for me to do it. I should have been braver just like you." He looked back at Gaara and smiled. "You've been trying to tell me that. Everyone else has. So...with your permission, I'd like to stay in the Leaf Village and learn from Iruka-sensei. If I learned from him, maybe I can learn how to be strong and brave like you." he stated.

No one spoke for a long time but then Gaara's face softened as he watched his young apprentice. He realized that this experience for him had just made him grow up. With a gentle sigh, he went over to Quoi's side and placed a hand onto his head. "Your father would be proud of you, Quoi. I sure am." He then looked over at Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, will you be willing to take a Sand Ninja student into your Ninja Academy to learn?"

Tsunade smiled and dipped her head into a nod. "I can already see some kind of student exchange program developing here. Very well. I will have it arranged for Quoi's stay. But this time," She gave the young boy a stern look but it was playful in a way. "This time, you better stay in the village. No more venturing out after Gaara, you hear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Quoi said standing up straight and looking proud.

Gaara nodded before looking over at Kankuro next, who met his eyes. "Kankuro, I will need you to return to the Sand Village..."

"EEEEEHHHH!" Kankuro suddenly beeped like a buzzer and crossing his arms to make a large X, which made Gaara give him a dry look. "Forget it, Gaara! I am not going back to the village, only to have Temari cave in my head after I have to tell her what nearly happened to Quoi and have her go beserk, and I certainly am not going to listen to those old farts called Elders, minus Ebizu-sama, complain and rant and rave about how you're running off to search for another Jinchuriki! You want them to know about it, you send an message by eagle. 'Cause I am going with you!" He then pointed a finger at his red haired brother when he opened his mouth to give him a small lecture. "Gaara, you're Kazekage and my superior in the Professional world. I, on the other hand, am YOUR older brother. So I get to tell you what to do for once!" he said grumply folding his arms.

Both brothers glared at one another.

After a long while of arguing, they finally came to an agreement. Kankuro would go with Gaara and they would send a message to Temari in the Sand Village. It was more than likely she'd blow up on them. So they would make sure they were on their way before they sent off the message. Who knew how fast Temari would catch up? Which, they knew that she would be after them very fast to lecture them both.

Either way, they had only a few days to rest and recuperate after what happened during the mission.

As it was, Tsunade excused Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, asking them to just stand by at their homes until the right time for the mission debriefing. She figured that they needed to rest first. So she told them to go home for a while. Gaara, however, asked if they would take Quoi with them and let him rest with one of them for a bit. Of course, Sakura agreed to let his student stay at her house for a little while until he was ready to pick him up. Then they left. After they left, Yamato told Tsunade what Sai had been ordered by Danzo and even showed him documents about members in the Black Ops. That, however, really ticked the Hokage off and she demanded Shizune to tighten the security around the storehouse, making sure that no one at all got into the files again. Scared, Shizune ran out and did what she was told, leaving all three men to watch with sweatdrops on the sides of their faces and quite uneasy. Even the usually calm Gaara had to feel somewhat intimidated by Tsunade. She was very scary, he realized. Gaara also explained to Tsunade about why Quoi had followed them in the first place.

Tsunade then looked over at Gaara, her eyes dark with fury still for the Konoha Elder for what he had done. But either way, she knew very well about the young Kazekage's concern for his student. And she was sure that he still felt concern for Quoi, now that they knew that Danzo was a threat. "Gaara, about Danzo. Are you really sure you want to leave Quoi here? Even after he had threatened your student? He might still try to harm him." She told him.

The young Kazekage's eyes narrowed a little thoughtfully as he turned them away from her. He knew she had a point. This would be the perfect opportunity for Danzo to harm Quoi. "Before I leave on my new mission," He rose his eyes and looked directly at Tsunade. "I would like to have a word with Danzo." He said in a rather dangerous tone.

"Be careful of what you say to him, Gaara." Tsunade said warningly, her own eyes narrowed. "You might provoke him. Or worst, make things worst between the Leaf and Sand Villages."

Gaara shook his head as he lift his head, letting a very cold aura surround him. He knew that what she said was going to happen either way. But he had to make sure that Danzo was aware that he knew about the threat against his student's life. And the Kazekage was going to make sure that he wouldn't ever do it again. He wouldn't threaten him, not exactly. Nor would he even touch him. Nor physically or with his sand. He was just going to make it clear of what would happen if he tried to threaten Quoi's life again. "Do not worry about him, Tsunade. I won't harm him." Gaara reassured her, even though it didn't reassure her at all. "I promise."

The Hokage let out a light sigh but she nodded as she motioned towards the door. "Very well, Gaara. Just be careful. I don't want to see your student get hurt just because you're pissed off at Danzo." She told him. "I'll assign an ANBU to watch over Quoi too. A very good one that I do trust."

The young Kazekage only nodded before glancing at Yamato and bowing his head to him. "Thank you for helping me, Yamato-taichou. I am in your debt." He told him before he and Kankuro walked out of the office.

"Gaara, you're going to threaten him, aren't you?" Kankuro asked smirking slyly as he glanced sidewards at his younger brother.

"Yes." Gaara said very darkly.

The two Brothers walked throughout the Administration Building until they managed to locate Danzo. They found him in an office on the far side of the building, enjoying some tea and looking over scrolls. He wasn't alone. There were two ANBU guards with him and Gaara knew very well that they gave him serious and dark looks for intruding on Danzo's time. Danzo, however, looked up at the red head seriously and knew very well that he was there on business. Taking a deep breath, the old man waved a hand to his guards, telling them to leave. The guards, however, showed some bewilderment.

"Danzo-sama, I must protest..." One guard was saying.

"Get out." Danzo said in an intimidating tone, which definitely unhinged the guards to leaving. They knew better than to stay and argue with him. So they left. The old man lift his head a little, looking directly at Gaara. "Now, what honor brings the Lord Kazekage to my office?" he asked, trying to sound pleasant but both brothers knew better.

Gaara dipped his head down lower, his eyes turning into dark slits as he gave the old man a very hard stare. He was being way too serious and it was causing some of his sand to slip from his gourd and swirl around him. He knew very well that it was Shukaku's doing for the sand. But it really couldn't be helped. The demon had a mind of his own and even Gaara couldn't stop him from acting out. "I am already aware of your dislike for me because I was once a ninja for the Leaf and I have become the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, so I will keep this brief." The Kazekage spoke in a dangerously low voice. "The day I left with Team Kakashi on the mission to capture the Akatsuki member, Sasori's spy, not more than two days later, my apprentice showed up after I left him here, stating that an old man threatened him that if he didn't leave and go after me, he would kill him."

"Oh, my." Danzo said, sounding interested and somewhat concerned but Gaara knew it was an act. "I do hope your apprentice is fine. We wouldn't want any conflicts between the Leaf and Sand Village to arise, now do we?"

There was a warning in that sentence. Gaara knew that Danzo was warning to be very careful of what he said to him. And it just made the red head's eyes narrow warningly. He knew he'd better be careful after all but he was going to make it plain and simple. "My student is fine. He has been safely returned here and will now become a student at the Ninja Academy here. He will learn the ways of a Leaf Ninja, later on returning as my apprentice. But my concern is still for his safety. There is still an old man in this village that has threatened his life. As I already have made it clear to the Lady Hokage, I have the greatest respect for the Leaf Village and will always stand by it as an ally, but if anyone threatens my young ninja again, that person will die in the worst possible way. I will not tolerate someone threatening a child like Quoi. And I mean what I say. I understand that the person who threatened him is someone you know and I would greatly appreciate it if you passed my warning onto him." He said warningly.

Danzo narrowed his one revealed eye right back at Gaara. He knew very well that the young Kazekage was talking directly to him but he bobbed his head into a nod. "Very well. I will pass on the message, if I can find out who threatened your student." He then tilted his head to the side. "And may I ask what you will be doing if you are leaving your student here?"

Again, Gaara narrowed his eyes but he shook his head as he stared Danzo directly in the eye. "I'm afraid the mission I have put my brother and myself on is classified. But I will be in contact with the Hokage and she's personally seeing to my student's safety. So if I hear that someone has threatened him again, I will be back very quickly to make sure that person who harms him will suffer. And nothing or no one will stop me. I've already been granted permission by the Lady Hokage, herself to use any means of punishment on the person responicible. And that means anyone who harms my student." he then turned his back onto Danzo and went straight to the door.

Kankuro, however, paused to give Danzo a dark look as he took a few steps after Gaara. "That goes for you too, old man." He said dangerously before he followed Gaara out. They both never well that Danzo didn't take that very well. Especially after hearing a loud thud within the room, the sound of Danzo's cane hitting the ground with anger.

"It was probably not wise to say that, Kankuro." Gaara said though he sounded amused.

"Pfffft. I meant what I said. If Chiquoi gets hurt because of that old fart, I will kill him, myself." The Puppet Master said darkly. "I won't let anyone hurt that kid and break Temari's heart. She loves that little gaki like she loves us. Then again, I pity the bastard who hurts him. 'Cause she'll cause a lot more pain than either one of us can. She would show no mercy to the guy who hurts the gaki. She's scarier than you when it comes to that time of the month."

Gaara pulled a face before turning a look on his face and raising an invisible eyebrow on him. "I'm not even going to ask." He said dully before he looked forward again. "Kankuro, we will be leaving tomorrow to find the boy, Yukimaru. If we find him in time, then we will convince him to leave Orochimaru." He told him.

"And if we can't convince him and he's actually staying by his will? What then, Gaara? What if he don't want to leave Orochimaru?" Kankuro asked, gravely. "I'm sure even you will have trouble fighting a kid who can control water, if he really is the Third Tail."

Gaara didn't answer. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. And he dreaded the answer.

~The Land of Waves ~

Ever since the fight against the Chakra Brothers, Rock Lee had not told the rest of his team mates what had happened exactly after he had returned, somewhat beaten up and weary look. He had not blamed Neji, exactly for jumping to conclusions and thinking that it was Alea who had beaten him up. After all, it had been she that Lee was following in the first place. But he immediately reassure him, and Tenten that it had not been Alea who attacked him. He actually left out the part where Alea rescued him, due to the look she shot him as he explained how he found some of the renegades and fought some of them. Lee knew very well that she just wanted the part left out where she helped a Leaf Ninja. So he obliged to her wishes and kept her involvement a secret.

Everyone grew very serious to hear about the Chakra Brothers though. Gai, however, admitted that he had heard of them after Lee told him about what the Chakra Brothers did and what kind of power they held. "The Chakra Brothers. There used to be Four of them. The Four Chakra Eaters, as they were known as. Now that I really think about it, that Sound Four guy, Jirobo was one of them. The one that Choji Akimichi fought and took out. He was the youngest brother, if I'm not mistaken." He said thoughtfully rubbing his chin, yet his eyes were serious as he looked around at his former students. "This isn't going to end well. I know for a fact that the Chakra Brothers are a vengeful lot. The remaining brothers are probably going to come looking for revenge for killing him, Lee." He warned his look alike.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Tazuna said, his eyes just as serious as Gai's. "Those big Ninja guys that those two Samurai hired are pretty nasty. They've killed quite a lot of merchants, sucking up their energy by touching them or whatever they do. As for that really big one, I guess his name is Jirati, he's the nastiest. He orders the other two around and they follow his every command."

"I am afraid that Jirati is dead." Lee told them solemnly.

Everyone looked at him in surprise as if he had just grown a head but Gai narrowed his eyes a little at him, confused. "Jirati is dead? Are you sure? How did he die?" He asked, in confusion.

So Lee told him how he died, still leaving out Alea's part in the whole ordeal. When he explained how he killed the Chakra Brother, Jirati, he sounded a little upset about it. By the end of it, Neji and Tenten were looking at their teammate with smiles and shaking their heads. They could trust Lee to get a little emotional about killing someone. For someone who was suppose to be a Shinobi, he was very emotional. In a way, they pitied him for having to kill someone. They knew very well that he hated taking lives. He absolutely hated it.

Gai, however, grew grave as he folded his arms and looked at Lee. "Jirati is not dead." He stated, surprising everyone. Even Alea looked alarmed to hear that.

"What? But Gai-Sensei, Lee just said he broke that guy's neck! How could he not be dead?" Tenten asked bewildered.

Sighing, Gai shook his head as he began digging into his hip pouch and pulled out a small booklet. He opened it and began flipping through it before finding something that he had been looking for. He nodded in satisfaction before holding up the book and showing a picture of the Chakra Brother, Jirati. There was even some information on the Ninja. There wasn't much though. "According to my bingo book, Jirati of the Chakra Brothers, is like a jelly fish. His specialty is Chakra control and Chakra Observation, just like his brothers. By touch, he can sense and memorize on how much Chakra you possess in your body and he can eat it away. His brothers, however, are different as you know. They have powers over a certain element, which are clearly water and air. The brother, Jirai uses Air to eat away your Chakra. He will be a very difficult opponent to face. Air is very hard to destroy and he's practically in league with it. The last brother, Jiro uses water. Water is just as difficult to destroy but easier than Air. Using water, he can drill into your very body and mine the Chakra, just like oil miners. And if that's not enough, he can use the very water in your body against you. Since most of our bodies are made out of water." He told them.

Lee frowned as he sat up taller, looking confused. "Gai-sensei, but how do you know that Jirati is not dead? I heard his neck break and saw him fall. I swear, he is dead." He told him.

"Lee," Gai sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, he's not dead. Like I said, Jirati is not dead. As far as my book says, it is said that Jirati of the Chakra Brothers was born with hardly any bones in his body. He was born with a very soft body, like a jelly fish." His words stunned everyone in the room. "I know how that sounds but it's true. He was born with very weak bones that they were practically not bones at all. He nearly didn't survive without his bones. But as my sources say, he went undergo a difficult and painful surgery, lead by our very own Orochimaru."

Again, Lee, Neji and Tenten looked shocked while the others just frowned in confusion and repulsion. Alea tilted her head as she stared at the Leaf Jounin with narrowed her eyes. "Who is that? How did he help Jirati?" She asked, sounding very confused.

Neji and Tenten both gave her a suspicious look but Gai held up a hand to them to keep them quiet. Even Lee had given them a look of disappointment for the all of the suspicion. "Orochimaru used to be a Ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village until he turned his back on our village many years ago. He was quite the scientist as well and always was conducting experiments. He has the knowledge of human anatomy and physiology and he knows how do the impossible with bodies. I'm not exactly sure how he did it, and I shouldn't even say anything, but one of Orochimaru's experiements that was consfigated by the Leaf ANBU said that he had once performed a surgery on an infant, creating a skeletonal frame and placing it into the infant's body so that it would be able to walk and live its life. My sources say that it was Jirati of the Chakra Brothers. The skeletal frame, however, grown from a certain DNA bone structure that I have no idea of how Orochimaru got a hold of. That DNA has given Jirati the ability to soften and harden his bones at his will. All the while, he seems to have taking on a jelly fish state. He can even soften the bones in his neck."

"So in other words...?" Tazuna asked frowning in disgust but shock.

Gai glanced over at him with a sigh. "It'll take a lot more than breaking Jirati's neck to killing him. His entire body like a jelly fish's. To kill him, well, I'm not even sure how to do it, myself."

Alea gritted her teeth before standing up and she began to pace. She didn't like this, nor did the Leaf Ninja, which was probably why Neji and Tenten weren't giving her a suspicious look. They were too busy thinking about what to do about this Jirati guy. Lee, however, was just too stunned as he let everything roll in his mind. "So...you mean that Jirati is not dead. I did not kill him." He said making it more of a question.

"Yes, Lee. You didn't kill him. If you thought you killed him, it was just because he was pretending to be dead." Gai told him.

"I can probably do it." Neji said as he stood up. "The next time we see him..."

Gai looked at him very seriously but shook his head. "No, Neji. Unfortunately you will not be able to kill him." He told him, getting a very surprised look from the Hyuuga Prodigy. He sighed again and looked at the long haired Jounin. "The Chakra Brothers are too dangerous, even for you, which is probably why the enemies of Wave City hired them in the first place. They drain the very chakra and life force from any they can get their hands on. Even with the Bakyugan, they will be too dangerous for you. Although you can use the Bakyugan to locate the Chakra streams and shut them down, they still can absorb as much Chakra as they like. They can even do it to you if they join forces on you." he told them, his face growing even more serious. "If anyone is going to take care of them, it will be me. I'm the only one in the entire team that may have a chance against them."

"But Gai-Sensei! If they were to gang up against you, I don't think you can take on all three of them!" Lee said sounding very concerned. "Althought I hate to admit it, they were very difficult to fight."

Gai only shook his head as he glanced over at his former student but smiled a sparkling smile. He gave him a thumbs up, which only made Lee's eyes brighten. "It will be okay, Lee! I can take them on if we work together! I think if we all fight our hardest against them, we might have a chance!" His tone softened a little. "But if it gets too serious, I want the three of you to back off and let me take care of the Chakra Brothers." he told them. Sighing, the three knew better than to argue with him. Gai was not the easiest to argue with as it was. So they only nodded.

Fortunately, for a week, nothing happened. There was no sign of the renegades and there hadn't been any attacks at all. Everyone didn't see any signs of them at all. The Leaf Ninja didn't let down their guards, of course. Neji would keep looking around with the Bakyugan and he knew very well where some of the camps were. He alerted everyone that the renegades were nearly a mile away from the city, keeping their distance. But it didn't look like they were making any preparations for an attack. In fact, as he told them, it looked like the renegades were now having fights among their selves. The members of the renegade seemed to be having a lot of disagreements and it caused them to fight each other.

"These guys are a bunch of idiots. They're not even worth our time," The young Hyuuga Prodigy said dryly as he reported to Gai and the others.

It only made every stop to think carefully. But Gai shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. But we still have the Chakra Brothers to worry about. They are a threat to these people so we have to make sure that they don't have the intentions of attacking. I don't know too much about these Samurai that Tazuna-sama has told us about. Zori and Waraji. Unlike Shinobi, Samurai don't have code of conduct and are willing to do whatever they want for their honor. It doesn't matter who gets hurt. There is a similarity between Samurai and Shinobi, but there are also differences." He told them. "We'll still need to be careful of them. They are just as dangerous as Shinobi."

So for several days, they kept their eyes for any sign of attack but as none came, they slowly began to relax. And as they relaxed, the Leaf Ninja slowly realized that they were starting to get bored by nothing to do. They tried to train in the forests but even that didn't help the boredom very much. However, Tazuna found things for the four Ninja to do for the city. With the ninja's help, he was able to cut down a few trees and destroy boulders so that they could continue building the city and new houses for the people to live in. They even got to help out with some fishing in the bay. It wasn't exactly Ninja work but they were enjoying it. Even Neji, though he wouldn't openly admit it. The one thing he didn't enjoy was the fact that ever since Lee had fought some of the renegades and came back, Alea had been staying very close by and was constantly watching him. It was like she was observing Lee or something. That or she was biding her time to attack him or do something. Neji swore that if she tried to hurt his teammate and friend, he would make her pay.

However, that didn't make it easy when Lee decided to ask Alea for a favor.

It had been a nice day and everyone was sitting in the sun by Tazuna's house, watching Alea practice some tricks on a tight rope she had tied between two posts. She was walking across it and then practicing some new tricks on it. Inari started cheering when she did a backflip and landed easily on her hands. He was always excited about watching Alea perform. Even Lee joined in a few times, showing his appreciation for the little show.

Of course, Alea ignored him. She would only glance over at him before rolling her eyes and going back to what she was doing.

But finally after watching her for so long, Rock Lee felt as if he really wanted to try it too. Problem was, he wasn't very good at it. He knew he needed someone to teach him how to line walk. So he figured he had to ask Alea for some lessons. So he asked.

"Alea-kun!" Lee said brightly as he slowly approached the line posts, getting her attention. He noticed the look she was giving him but he didn't seem to mind. He could feel his team mates' eyes on him but again, he didn't pay any mind at all. His attention was only on the felinish ninja in front of him, standing on a thin rope. "This is such an exciting skill that you have! I have never seen such mastery before!"

"What do you want?" Alea asked dryly, getting right to the point.

Blushing, Lee reached up and rubbed the back of his neck but then with a deep breath, he lowered his hand to his side and smiled as kindly up at her as he could. "Well, I was wondering...I was wondering if you would teach me how to walk a rope line." He said hopefully.

That very request made everyone shut up and look at him as if he was crazy. Most of everyone did anyway. Gai just looked surprised before he slowly began to smile and he nodded his approval. He knew very well that he was only wanting to learn a new skill, as well befriend this hostile young lady. Alea, however, just eyed him with suspicion before she crinkled her nose as if she was disgusted by the request. She stared at him with that look for a minute before her face changed again. With a shake of her head, she lowered herself into a crouch on the line and then fell backwards, yet still held onto the line. She now hung upside down on the line, holding onto the rope with one hand and both feet keeping on the rope. She looked more like she was standing up on it.

"So, let me get this straight." The dark haired young girl said in a dull voice before pointing at Lee with her other hand. "You want me to teach you the one skill that makes me unique? Why the heck should I teach you how to line walk? What's in it for me?" She asked sourly.

Her tone made Tenten glare at her and start to stand up to intervene but stopped when Gai placed a hand onto her shoulder, shaking his head. She looked at him with shock, while Neji didn't like it at all.

Lee, on the other hand, smiled his goofy smile and rubbed the back of his neck again with a shrug. He didn't really know what to say about that. He didn't really have an answer to give her. "Well...I, uh..." His smile faultered just a little as he searched his mind for any answer. "I suppose it could give you the pleasure of helping me become a better ninja. And if I can master it like you, that way we both will be very good at line walking! And maybe if I get good enough, we can perform together at another show on the Bridge!" He said brightly.

Alea made a face at that thought while Neji and Tenten both sighed in frustration and shook their heads. They couldn't believe Lee was doing this to himself. They knew very well that Alea would refuse. And Alea almost did until she saw their faces. She glared at them, knowing they were thinking very negative thoughts about her. Again. She honestly didn't care what they thought of her. But then as if something was whispered to her, she slowly smirked an cheshire cat like smile. She wondered how wonderful it would be to see the looks on their faces if she..."You know what?" She said turning her eyes back onto Lee, who was still looking pretty hopeful. "I think I will teach you how to line walk."

Everyone looked surprised, if not shocked. Even both Neji and Tenten. Of course after only a few seconds of that shock, they eyed her with suspicion and distrust. They saw the smirk she was giving them and watching their reactions. They knew that she was only doing it to spite them.

"Thank you!" Lee said very brightly, feeling gratitude wash right over him and a new light of hope. He honestly started to believe that Alea was giving him a chance to befriend her. And he was not going to let her down at all! He was going to do his best to become her friend. "I will do my very best, Alea-kun! I won't let you down at all! I will be the best line walker you've ever taught!"

Alea made a face as she looked at him but then she dropped her legs down and let go of the line, dropping down in front of him. She placed her hands onto her waist as she looked him right into the eyes. She was judging him a little, truthfully but she knew that if she was really going to teach him, she needed to know how his balance was in the first placed. Taking a deep breath, she let it out again. "All right. For starters, how good is your balance? Stand on one foot." She told him.

Brightly, Lee did so, pressing one foot against his leg and held out his arms.

The felinish girl shook her head as she crinkled her nose again but then rolled her eyes. "No, no. Fold your arms, like this." She did it herself and then rose one leg out to behind her, standing on one leg. She looked more like a ballet dancer though. "And stand like this."

Lee nodded vigorously before he copied her stance. He folded his arms and held out his right leg out to behind him. Of course, his stance made his teammates and Inari make faces. 'He looks like a complete idiot.' Neji thought, dryly.

"Hmm." Alea hummed as she watched him before she lowered her leg and shifted her feet. She motioned Lee to do the same, which he did. Then she rose her other leg into the ballet stance and nodded for him to do the same. Lee, however, hesitated for a second before he tried to do the same. He wobbled only a little and that made Alea frown as she looked at his left leg. She stared at it for a minute then straightened herself again. "Don't move. Hold that stance." She told him.

"Okay!" Lee said brightly but there was some strain within his voice. He looked like he was having only a little effort in keeping his left leg up.

Alea moved closer to him, looking at his leg, which made him look at her with surprise. She could feel the suspicious gaze of Neji Hyuuga and Tenten but she ignored them as she studied Lee's left leg. She frowned with thought before reaching up and poking at it, trying to push it down. For a moment, Lee thought she was telling him to put his leg down and started to do so when she shot him a look and grabbed his leg, lifting it up again so that he kept standing in the position. Lee blushed and grinned sheepishly at her. But she ignored it. She just went back to looking at his left leg and pushing at it, while he fought to keep it up. Then Alea's eyes lit up as if she realized something.

"Your left leg. It's heavier than the other, isn't it?"

Smiling sheepishly again, Lee shrugged as he then wobbled and had no choice but to put it down. He had almost staggered and fell but managed to catch his balance and rub the back of his neck with a little embarrassment. "Yes. I'm afraid three years ago, I was in an accident."

"Please, Lee." Tenten said impatiently, folding her arms across her chest. "There was nothing accidental about that. Gaara went a little overboard and crushed your entire left side." She shook her head when Lee gave her a pout as if asking her not to say it but she ignored it as she just looked dryly right at Alea. "It was during the Chuunin Exams. Lee went up against another Leaf Ninja, well...actually he's a Sand Ninja who was raised in the Hidden Leaf. But still, Lee went up against this guy, Gaara. There's this little issue with Gaara and it caused him to become a little unstable. He lost control of his own will and crushed Lee's leg and arm with sand. Because of the damage, it nearly destroyed Lee's chance of continuing being a Shinobi. His bones in both arm and leg were so catastrophic that he almost had to quit being Shinobi completely." She told Alea, who now looked surprised.

Lee, however, was giving Tenten a little bit a forlorn look. He really didn't want Alea to know about his little incident with Gaara. "Tenten, please. Don't. It wasn't really Gaara's fault. He didn't mean to do it." He told her.

Tenten looked at him and saw the look on his face before she let out a low sigh and shook her head. She knew she had upset him only a little for what she was telling Alea. "Sorry, Lee. But you know it wasn't an accident. And I know it wasn't Gaara's fault. Everyone knows it was that stupid Tanuki's fault, Shukaku."

Neji gave her a sharp look for revealing that. "Tenten." He hissed at her, making her wince and realize what she just said.

Alea, however, blinked only once in surprise before her face slowly lit up with realization. She looked as if she knew that name from somewhere. Her mouth even fell a little as she stared at Tenten with surprise. "Wait. Shukaku...you mean...! The One Tailed Bijuu?!" She gasped.

Tenten winced and cringed a little while Neji gave her a dry look for letting out some information to a possible threat. But Lee ignored both of them and nodded with a gentle smile on his face. He knew that Neji didn't wan to tell Alea anything but he figured that if he was going to try and become her friend, try to get her to trust them by trusting her. "Yes. Gaara possesses the spirit of one of the Nine Legendary Tailed Beasts, the One Tailed Tanuki, Shukaku." He said a little fondly. "And yes, it was the cause of Shukaku that almost made me stop being a Shinobi altogether. But not Gaara's. In fact, if it wasn't for Gaara, I would not be a ninja anymore. A month after my leg and arm was crushed, Gaara repaired the bones by transplanting sand within my bones, hardening them until they molded into the calcium, making them harder and stronger. He may have destroyed my leg and arm, but he saved me by repairing the damange that he inflicted. My leg and arm, my entire left side is very strong and if I were to hit someone with them, it could cause a lot of damage to an enemy." He told her, receiving glares from his teammates.

But Alea didn't look too bothered by them. Her eyes were only on Lee's, looking very surprised. She just stared at him as if she had never seen anyone like Lee before. The news obviously took her by great surprise. "And...you don't hold this...this Gaara in contempt for what he did to you?" She asked, as if accusing him.

Lee just shook his head with a smile. "No. Gaara is one of my most precious friends. I care about him as much as I care about Naruto, who is the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tail, Kyuubi. Both of them are our greatest friends and we all care for both of them. Don't we, Neji, Tenten? Gai-Sensei, don't we?" He said brightly.

Gai just grinned and nodded as he gave him a thumbs up. While Neji and Tenten sighed in frustration that their bone headed teammate was giving out valuable information but they knew it couldn't be helped. So they both nodded. "Both Naruto and Gaara have been through a lot and they've done so much for all of us, all of the Villages of Leaf and Sand. Gaara was raised in the Leaf Village, yet he left Konoha for his own birth village to free it from some evil organization of enemy ninja called the Akatsuki." Tenten said dully, figuring it wasn't worth hiding it anymore.

At the name, Akatsuki, Alea flinched as if someone branished a whip at her but she quickly covered it up by putting a stony look on her face. "But...the Jinchuriki are monsters. Why on earth would you want to befriend creatures like them?" She asked coldly.

Never had Tenten moved so fast in her life, nor had her guy teammates seen her move. One second, she was sitting right next to Neji, the next minute she was right in front of Alea, glaring at her with the most dangerous look on her face. "Don't you ever call them monsters again!" She nearly shouted at Alea, her eyes blazing, and actually making the dark skinned girl draw back in surprise. Alea was only too surprised to see tears growing in the other girl's eyes as she glared at her. "You don't know what Naruto and Gaara has been through because of their demons! Everyone hated them from the beginning! Everyone thought they were monsters because of Shukaku and Kyuubi! Both of them had to live alone and hated by everyone in our village! But then they found one another and they became best friends! Then they were assigned to the same team and they made friends with their teammates! And then they became friends with all of us! Gaara wasn't even born in our village but we grew up with him! He's been through more than any one of us! His own father tried to have him killed and it caused an uproar! But we never backdown from being his friend! It was because we got to know him for who he is!"

"Uh..." Alea stammered with unease.

Tenten shook her head as she glared harder at the other girl, her eyes still threatening to spill tears. "You didn't have to watch our friends Sakura and Naruto cry because the Akatsuki captured him and tried to remove Shukaku from his body! It almost killed him and we almost lost our friend! But Naruto refused to give up and let him die! You didn't have to watch him die protecting us from the Akatsuki!" She snapped. "Do not ever call Gaara or Naruto monsters just because they possess a Bijuu inside of them! You just don't understand them like everyone else who despises them!"

Alea stared at the enraged Weapons Specialist with shock for a long moment, letting all of her words hit her before her face slowly softened into a look of understanding. She slowly lowered her eyes away from Tenten and then she turned her face away from her. "Maybe you're right." She said quietly, which made Tenten blink in surprise, as well as everyone else. "Maybe you're right that I don't understand." She lift her eyes and looked right into Tenten's eyes again, a little forlorn but there was a hint of sadness. "But you didn't have to watch your best friend die for protecting you, saving you from the worst kinds of people when he was the only one who cared about you. He was the only one who cared about you when other people treated you like an ugly beast. He was the only one who ever loved you and now I will never see him again." She said her voice turning ice cold. Then she blinked as if she realized she let what she said slip before she turned away. "I may understand a lot more than you think, Tenten. My best friend was the Eight Tailed Jinchuriki. And the Akatsuki got him when he was protecting me." She told them before she slowly walked off towards the trees.

Very astonished, the members of Team Gai and Inari stared after her with surprise and alarm. Even Neji had to stare in shock after her. But then Lee's face softened into a look of pity as if he realized something then he looked at Tenten, who covered her mouth with a hand and let a tear stream down her cheek. "You meant well, Tenten, we all know." He told her gently, placing a hand onto her shoulder, before he turned and followed after Alea.

Gai, however, frowned with his eyes narrowing a little thought but then he sighed and shook his head. He had caught on to what Alea had said. "Well, looks like we have a bigger problem here than I realized." He whispered to himself.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

It didn't take Lee very long to find Alea, for she didn't go far at all. He found her sitting on a small hill, overlooking the lagoon near the city. She was sitting in front of two grave sites, one with a very large sword stuck in the ground and the other had a lei of flowers on the stone. She was sitting in between them, looking off at the water below. She had such a sad look on her face that it made Lee feel an ache in his chest just by seeing it. He didn't like to see such sorrow and grief on her face. He wanted to see her smile. It was a look he had seen on Gaara's face once. He didn't like it.

"Alea." Lee said softly as he moved closer.

Alea's head tilted a little as if to look at him but she didn't. She had actually sensed him coming before he even arrived. So she had known he was approaching her. Looking forward again, she slowly shook her head. "Do you know what the ocean and I have in common?" She whispered. Lee stopped right behind her and looked at her with surprise and questioning but he didn't say anything. Drawing a low breath, Alea lowered her head. "We're both cold and so alone. There is nothing that can compare more than that." She closed her eyes before turning her head and giving Lee a hard look. "Why do you insist on bothering me so much, Leaf Ninja? Why can't you just leave me alone?" She asked grimly.

Lee stared at her for a minute before he looked away, somewhat thoughtful yet sorrowful for her. "No one should ever be alone, Alea. I've seen what loneliness can do to people. Honestly, the same look you have right now is the same that Gaara used to wear. Utter loneliness, grief and hate for the world. He always believed that no one would care about him because of Shukaku, the Blood Thirsty, as he always referred to him."

"But?" Alea asked, frowning.

Her prying made Lee smile down at her, his eyes rather soft and warm as he looked down at her. "But, then his best friend, Naruto-kun showed him that he would never leave his side, no matter what. And nor would I. Yes, Gaara-kun had a very hard time learning how to control Shukaku, but he did it. And after learning about how alone he had been for years, being hated by everyone, I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand seeing that terrible look on his face." He then slowly dropped down to a low crouch in front of her. "Just like I can't seeing that terrible look on yours. I can tell just by looking into your eyes that you've seen so many terrible things and been through so many terrible things that you're hurting really terribly. I don't know what you've seen or dealt with, but I want to help you. If you will let me." He said, holding out his hand towards her.

Alea stared at him with a hard look before her face softened into a defeated look and she looked away at the large sword next to her. "I heard about Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, Haku." She glanced over at the other marker on her other side. "Tazuna told me all about them, about how they tried to kill him under the orders of Gatou, a terrible businessman. And then they fought the Leaf Ninja that the Wave City hired to protect them, who fought with their very lives on the line." She rose her eyes and looked right at Lee. "I don't understand why they would do that. I know it's a ninja's purpose of life, performing missions and doing what they were told. To me, that doesn't seem much of a life. You're always told what to do, how to do it, and all you do is cause pain and grief for someone. That's why I'm trying to quit the life of a Shinobi. I just...I just don't know if I can live day to day, remembering that all I did was run away when my friend needed me." She shrugged. "He told me to run, but I should have stayed. He needed my help. And all I did was run and be afraid. What kind of ninja was I for doing that?" She asked, painfully, closing her eyes and looking away.

Lee watched her for a moment before he smiled softly and placed a hand over hers, making her open in her eyes and look at him. "Everyone is afraid at some point in their life. Even a Ninja. Yes, we're not suppose to be. But, that's just the way we are. We're human, Alea." He told her. "It's okay to be afraid once in a while."

"Even if it costs the life of our dearest people?" Alea asked frowning.

The Taijutsu Specialist went quiet for a minute but then he smiled faintly at her. "Would your friend want you to be this way? Sad and grieving, even if he's gone?" He simply asked.

Alea blinked once in surprise as if the question hit her pretty hard but then she looked away thoughtfully. She seemed to be thinking very carefully about that question. But then slowly, she faintly smiled and shook her head. "No. He wouldn't." She made a face. "He'd probably strike up some ridiculous rhyme about how foolish I am right now, and then somehow make me smile because I can never stay mad at him." Then for the first time in ages, and in front of Lee, nonetheless, she let out a low laugh. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I actually miss his stupid raps."

Lee just smiled as he listened to her laugh a little and even tightened his hand around hers a little, giving it a comforting squeeze. It caught her attention, making her look up at him. "You see, Alea? He wouldn't want you to be so down."

"Yugito Nii."

"Huh?" Lee asked now blinking in surprise. He wasn't sure where that just came from.

Alea just smiled and shook her head as she looked down at the ground, almost wondering why she was going to tell him the truth. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do it. "My real name is Yugito Nii. I'm a Kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud Village in the Lightning Country." She actually cringed a little at that information. "That's why the Hyuuga doesn't like me." She told him. Now, she had to wait for him to yank his hand away and attack her for being that kind of enemy ninja.

Lee just stared in surprise at her before it slowly dawned on him. He remembered the stories about the relationship between the Hyuuga Clan and the Cloud Ninja. "Oh." He breathed in surprise before noticing the cringing look on her face. He realized that she was waiting for him to hate her. He stared at her for a moment but then his face softened. "You're a Cloud Shinobi."

Nodding, Alea kept her eyes adverted from his. "Yeah. And I know about how some of our Ninja went Konohagakure to kidnap someone from the Hyuuga Clan and to steal their secrets of the Bakyugan. I know how they failed and our top Ninja was executed for doing it. In return, my Raikage asked for the death of the Head of the Hyuuga Clan to keep up the peace." She lowered her head even more. "I know why Neji hates me and my Village, Kumogakure. He has a reason for it. We killed the Head of the Hyuuga Clan just because of our crime against them." She murmured. "And the funny thing was, I wasn't even a member of that village yet when it happened."

"Neji's father." Lee said in a low voice, his own gaze lingering away. He felt Alea's curious eyes on him but he shook his head. "It was Neji's father who was killed. Not the Head, who was Neji's uncle. His father was Hiashi Hyuuga's twin brother and he offered to take Hiashi's place."

Alea stared at him in surprise before her face softened with realization. "Oh. Well, then Neji really has a good reason for hating me." She sighed and placed a hand against her cheek. "Looks like I have no choice but to return home after all." She saw the surprised and alarmed look on Lee's face but she could only smile at him and shake her head. "Not to tattle tale. But to retrieve the remains of the Hyuuga we took and give him back to Neji. For a proper burial. If it was anyone else, the Raikage would be pissed. But since it's me, he'll get over it."

Lee smiled right back before sitting down right next to her and leaned his shoulder against hers. "So...Yugito Nii-kun, huh?" He asked her thoughtfully.

"Alea. Just keep calling me Alea. I like it more anyway. And it'll keep anyone else from finding out where I am." Alea told him.

Nodding, Lee just looked towards the lagoon with her, his face soft. He was just happy that she was slowly starting to trust him with her real identity. But still, he had remembered that she had mentioned the Akatsuki. "So, you've met the Akatsuki, huh?" He saw her pull a face. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me!" He said quickly.

Alea only shook her head as she curled up her knees towards her and wrapped her arms around them. She gently placed her head onto her knee and shrugged. "It's okay. Yeah. I met two of them. The most vicious people I've ever met." Her eyes hardened a little. "I will kill them for what they did to Killer Bee. That is...if they did get him."

"You mean..." Lee said in surprise.

Alea shrugged. "Well, yeah. I guess I didn't really see them take Bee. I was too busy swimming for my life because I jumped into the ocean to escape from them. There's a good chance that they couldn't fight Bee. He's pretty strong, after all. He's the Eight Tail. The second most powerful of the Nine Tailed Demons, under the Nine Tails. Supposedly anyway."

Lee looked away thoughtfully. "Then, maybe he's not dead as you think." he then smiled at her. "Maybe he escaped too! Or thrashed them good for what they did to you! He might even be looking for you!" He said brightly.

Smirking, Alea tilted her head away from him, giving him an amused look. "Are you always this optimistic?" She asked.

"Always!"

Shaking her head, Alea rose her head and lowered one leg to the ground, still resting an arm on her knee. She stared off at the slowly sinking sun as it began to fall behind the ocean's horizon. For the first time in nearly two months, she felt content. All because of this bushy browed weirdo. She had to hand it to him, but he had an amazing attitude. She knew for sure that the being inside of her was content with him. "Neko likes you, Lee." She found herself admitting out loud.

"Huh?" Lee asked.

Wincing, Alea knew she had slipped again. 'What is it with me slipping around this guy?! I've never been so careless before around anyone!' She thought.

'Maybe you like him, yourself, kitten.' Came the purring voice of the Nekomata.

Sighing, Alea denied it but she wasn't sure herself. Still, she needed to explain herself to the guy beside her. So since she was being so honest, she decided to be honest again. "Lee, you know how you went and said that you were friends with two Jinchuriki?" She saw him look at her in surprise but nod. "You want to...um, be friends with a third one?" She asked, closing her eyes, waiting for a blow up. "I...uh, happen to be...the...Two..."

"Huh?" Lee asked with confusion.

Alea slowly opened her eyes again, keeping her head turned away from him. "Well, I happen to the be the Two Tailed Jinchuriki." She admitted, now freezing up and waiting.

There was a long silence as Lee let what she said settling in before he jumped up a little and looked at her with alarm and surprise. He couldn't believe what she had just said. But as soon as she said it, he realized it. It hit him of what she had said before. "That's why the Akatsuki attacked you. Because they were after you." He said with shock.

Nodding meekly, Alea kept her gaze directly on the ground. She didn't dare look up at him. "I was their target when they attacked Kumogakure. And Killer Bee fought them to keep me safe from them. That's why...I kind understand your friends, Naruto and Gaara. Because...well, I'm one of them. I just don't understand why you want to befriend them though. The Jinchuriki are considered monsters. Especially Nekomata. She's...well, in Kumo, everyone knows that she's a hideous monster and she's not at all the loveliest of the Bijuu. She's really hideous. Like me." She lowered her head in grief.

"You are not!" Lee said frowning sternly at her and getting a surprised look. "You are not hideous, Alea! You're not even ugly! I haven't ever seen anyone with such beauty such as yours!"

Alea was surprised by his words but she slowly shook her head. "But you've never seen the Nekomata. If you've seen it, you wouldn't..."

"You're not Nekomata, Alea. You are Yugito Nii." Lee simply told her. "And I'm sure Nekomata isn't as hideous as you think. If it's anything like you," he smiled at her. "I'm sure it's very beautiful."

Alea stared at him with surprise but then her face softened into a look of gratitude and awe. Once again, this weirdo with the eyebrows had astonished her. She slowly shook her head but then smiled before reaching over and ruffling his bowl cut hair before resting her arm on his shoulder. "You are so weird, Rock Lee. But...you've got spunk. I like that." She told him. Lee only smiled bashfully at her but then together, they looked at the sunset. Already, they both could tell, a friendship was starting to develop between them. And maybe, Alea thought, maybe I can make a friend out of someone else.

After Alea's confession to Lee, everyone realized that something changed between them. They became aware of it when both of them returned to Tazuna's after dark, smiling at each other and actually having a pleasant conversation with one another. No one really knew what happened between them but it made Neji and Tenten very suspicious. They didn't know what Alea might have said to Lee or visa versa but they didn't like it. They didn't trust her. Everyone else was actually very happy. They were glad that Rock Lee had actually managed to make their Tight Rope champ smile and be a whole lot friendlier than she had ever been since she first arrived. They were just happy that she was smiling.

As it was, Alea was teaching Rock Lee to walk the tight rope. It wasn't easy at all for the young Taijutsu specialist. It was actually very, very difficult for him. Nearly impossible actually for him to walk the rope. Every time he tried to step onto the rope, he would topple right off. Inari and Tenten laughed a little while Neji just rolled his eyes. But Alea would just smile and told Lee to keep on trying. It was actually very un-settling to Tenten and Neji as they watch her try and reassure him. They were sure she was up to something.

But in truth, all Alea wanted to be Lee's friend now. She had been taken by surprise when he had been so nice to her, even after he found out who she really was and kept her secret. But the fact was, Nekomata seemed to trust this Leaf Ninja. She didn't know why but if her demon trusted him, then she would have to.

However their troubles were only about to begin for them. It had been nearly three weeks now since Team Gai even arrived at the city and not much has been happening at all. In fact, nothing has happened. So that left Team Gai very, very bored. Neji and Tenten anyway. Both Gai and Rock Lee were having the time of their lives. Especially with Lee trying to learn how to walk the rope.

It wasn't really going very well for Lee though. After he made friends with Alea, they started the rope walking lessons. It wasn't easy for Lee at all as he tried to walk the rope. He was just having such a hard time due to his left leg being so heavy. For many hours, Alea would have him stand on his right leg, keeping the left held out so he could try and balance himself out. It wasn't easy for him to hold up his left but he was very determined to do all of the lessons that Alea had to offer. All the while, when Neji or Tenten or even Gai wasn't around, he told Alea all about Naruto and Gaara and about how he even met them. He explained their stories to her and told her about what they had been through. He even told her about how Gaara's own uncle tried to kill him because of what happened to his mother.

Just hearing that, Alea went very quiet and stared off away from Lee, looking almost sullen. She had not taken Gaara's story very well. She especially hadn't liked to hear that one of Gaara's own family, one he had never known about had tried to kill him because Akatsuki had killed his mother, his uncle's sister for protecting her baby.

"That's not fair."

Lee looked away from the water they were eating their lunch by, looking at her with a frown. He wasn't sure what she was talking about. "Huh?"

Alea shook her head as she drew her knees up to her chest and rest her chin on the right. She was glaring at the water as if it had done something to offend her. Even inside her, Neko was growling. She knew very well that the Cat didn't like it. "Gaara. How could...how could anyone do that to him? Pretend to be his friend and then try to kill him?!" She growled, a heat wave starting to trail off of her. "That's just so wrong! If Bee was there, he would have...!" She ended her sentence with punching the ground hard, leaving a nice sized hole now.

The Taijutsu Specialist just smiled faintly before lightly tapping her hand and withdrawing it quickly from the heat. "Gaara would appreciate you saying that on his behalf. And so would Naruto. He would thank you greatly." He told her, earning a smile from Alea. Then he thought about something that he hadn't asked Alea just yet. "Alea, what about your life before you joined the Hidden Cloud Village? Do you remember your parents?"

Alea went very quiet, not looking at him at all. That really hadn't been a question she ever wanted to answer but she didn't ever recall that he couldn't ask it.

Lee seemed to realize that it had been a question that Alea didn't want to answer because he saw the look on her face. He nearly dropped his rice ball in alarm before waving his hands and shaking his head vigorously. "Oh! You don't have to answer that!" He said quickly.

However, Alea looked at him just as alarmed as he looked before shaking her own head and waved one hand at him. "No, no! It's okay, Lee!" She almost cried out before lowering her head with a gentle sigh and staring at the ground. "I don't remember my parents. Not very well." She narrowed her eyes before pulling her knees close to her chest and shaking her head again. "I was very young when I lost them. There was a war going on in Lightning Country. I think it was right after happened between the Cloud Ninja and the Hyuuga Clan. I believe my father was one of the ninja who attempted to kidnap the youngest Hyuuga child, though it was his master, his sensei, who was caught and killed. I don't remember too much but bits and pieces. But my father was angry and he went to pick a fight with Konoha Ninja. He came back, frantic. He got in trouble and was tracked down by Hunters. I don't even know which ones. But my mother was so upset that I think she decided to blame me for the death of my father. Nekomata won't tell me the entire story but she says that my mother tried to kill me after she first found out that I carried the Two Tail. She thought it was curse from the Two Tailed Spirit Cat. But I don't really remember what happened after that. I just remember wandering the Country, barely surviving with only Neko to aid me. And then I found the Lightning Village."

Alea paused for a moment as she faintly smiled only briefly before it was gone again. "It was a very beautiful village. I had never seen a place like it before. I thought I could actually make a home out of it." She shook her head as she stared at the grass. "Cloud Ninja appeared and attacked me. They thought I was some kind of spy and Neko didn't like it. She burst out in flames and fought back. I don't think she killed anyone but she did a lot of damage. Enough to attract the attention of the Raikage and Killer Bee. They both came to fight her but seeing her, Bee went to defend her instead." She looked up at Lee, faintly smiling. "I don't know how he did it but he somehow knew that I was just a little girl. He refused to let anyone hurt me and whispered to Nekomata. Somehow, he calmed her down. He's a very powerful ninja, Lee. But he's very gentle and kind. He can be very annoying when he wants to be, but I can't ever stay mad at him."

Lee could only smile at her as he pulled one knee up to his chest and rest his chin on it, watching and listening to Alea. "He sounds like a very good friend." He told her softly.

The Two Tailed Jinchuriki could only smile and nod. "He likes to annoy me by rapping all of the time but it just something he likes to do. Just one of his odd hobbies." She said before straightening and letting out a short huff. "All well. We should probably get back to..." Her eyes snapped open when the Neko began to growl inside of her. She knew that as a warning from her demon spirit.

Leaping up into a crouching stance, Alea began to growl as she looked around the area, her hair standing up a little. She knew very well that she was surprising Lee, making him grow tense.

"Alea?" Lee asked, frowning before he stood up, looking around the area. He didn't know what she was sensing but he knew very well that it didn't sit well with her. Her senses were sharper than his ten times over so she could probably sense things faster than anyone he knew. "Alea, what is it?"

There was no answer at first from the Two Tailed Jinchuriki, other than a deep growl as her eyes flickered across the trees. She was searching for something. She had felt something close by and that was what triggered Neko's senses. She knew it wasn't Neji or Tenten, even though they were close by too. They weren't close enough to have heard her and Lee's conversation but she knew very well that they had been watching from a safe distance. She knew very well that they were suspicious of her and she didn't blame them. But still, there was someone else.

Heat began to trickle off of Alea as she continued to glare at the trees, her hands slowly lowering until they met the grass under her. She looked more like a cat stalking its prey. Or worst, a predator being cornered by another predator.

"Alea?" Lee asked, now standing up in a crouch and placing a hand onto her back. He had been expecting her to jerk away from him in alarm like a cat would when they were startled but she didn't. "Alea, is it? Do you hear something?"

Another long moment passed as Alea continued to growl before she slowly stopped, but kept her eyes on the trees. She sat up straighter, but remained crouching. "They're coming, Lee. The two leaders of the renegades. I can sense them. They'll be here within fifteen minutes. They're not alone. I believe the Chakra Brothers are with them." She murmured with displeasure and even spared him a glance. "All three of them."

Lee tensed in alarm before relaxing again and sighing. He realized that she was talking about the one he had so called killed. He knew that Jirati must have been coming to pay him back for what he had done to him. Standing up and looking towards the trees, Lee made sure to keep a brave look on his face. He was going to face this problem, no matter what. He was going to protect his village and Alea as hard as he could. "Then let them come. We can take them." He said, boldly.

Alea smiled as she stood up straight and lift her head high. She had to admit it, but she was starting to like Lee more and more as they went. He was one of the most admirable ninja she had ever met. "Yes."

Suddenly, Neji and Tenten were there, beside them, looking rather grave. They had been watching the two but when Lee and Alea looked off with glares, Neji had taken a look himself and saw who was coming. So, naturally, they joined the pair.

"Good of you to join us, Neji and Tenten." Alea remarked without even looking at them.

Neji shot her a look but then looked forward again, his hands hanging at his sides as he continued to look off into the trees. He didn't want to even reply to Alea. He still didn't trust her and probably wouldn't unless she gave him a real reason to. Tenten, on the other hand, just nodded once to the other girl before reaching out behind her and grabbing two scrolls she kept strapped to her back in case she needed them. She didn't like Alea any more than Neji did but she was starting to tolerate her because she was actually being nice to Lee.

For a long fifteen minutes, that was how the four stood, all in silence. None of them looked at one another or said anything as they just watched the trees. Alea started to growl a little, deciding not to hide the fact that she did that from Neji or Tenten. But neither one seemed to even notice. They were just waiting for the renegades to show up.

And after about fifteen minutes, several figures came walking out of the dark trees. Three of them were the Chakra Brothers; all three of them. The last two were no doubt the leaders. They were leading the brothers towards the four teenage ninja, looking very serious. They were unusual though. They looked more like Samurai than anything else. Both of them had katana strapped to their waists. And it was a known fact that Samurai and Ninja were common enemies and they did not get along very well. It was a wonder how they were working with the Chakra Brothers. So this was not going to end very well with the four teen ninjas.

Although the two Samurai did hesitate as they looked them over, frowning as if confused. They were especially looking at the three Leaf Ninja, not even sparing Alea a glance. They seemed surprised but then a wave of pleasure rolled over their features, as if pleased with what they saw.

"I don't think they were expecting you guys." Alea murmured, just as alert as the three Leaf Ninja were. She had seen Neji shoot her a look but she ignored him.

"They must have thought Kakashi and his students were the ones that came to defend the village." Tenten stated, not caring that Alea had even made a suggestion. She shook her head as she met the other girl's yellow gaze. "Team Seven had been the ones to protect Port City in the first place from these guys' boss. If these guys were apart of that group of tyrants, then they should be expecting the usual protectors."

Alea just nodded as she let her eyes flicker over to Rock Lee, who met her gaze before looking back at the tyrants as they approached the four teens. She let a low growl escaped from within as she glared at the Samurai. "Look at their smug faces. They were expecting to see this Kakashi and his team. But they see you guys and they grin because they think you're not strong enough to defeat their allies and protect this village." She growled.

"Hmph. Sounds like we should correct them then." Lee said, smirking.

Both Neji and Tenten smiled as they glanced at their team mate before nodding at the same time. They didn't like Alea but they agreed with Lee. They would not let these guys destroy the Land of Water if they could help it. As rivals of Team Kakashi, they had to make sure they stopped them in this village, just for their sensei, Gai.

The two Samurai walked right up to the four, stopping several feet away from them. The three Chakra brothers stopped behind them, though the oldest of the three, Jirati, looked directly at Lee, frowning. He didn't look pleased with him but he didn't look pissed that the Taijutsu Specialist had tried to kill him. He was just stoic about the entire situation. Unlike his brothers, he folded his arms, stood up straight and almost proudly.

"Well, well. What do we have here? I don't recognize the whole lot of you." The tall and thin Samurai said as he rest his hand onto his waist, looking each of the three Leaf Ninja over. His eyes narrowed at Alea, who was literately growling at him and not caring that it was him she growling at. "Well, she I remember. But the rest of you," He looked back at Team Gai, frowning at them. "Who are all of you? You're Leaf Ninja I can see from your headbands. But you're not the Leaf ninja I recognize from almost four years ago."

"No." Neji spoke, in his very calm and collected voice. He moved forward a few steps, but not too close to the Samurai. "We have not met before. The Leaf Ninja squad you met before was Kakashi Hataki and his students. We are their allies. Team Gai of the Hidden Leaf Village. My name is Neji Hyuuga. These are my team mates." He said, before motioning to Tenten and Rock Lee.

"Tenten, Weapon Specialist."

"I am Rock Lee, The Hidden Leaf's Handsome Devil!" Rock Lee boasted, making his two companions roll their eyes but Alea smirked to herself as she glanced at him. He then motioned to Alea. "And you know Alea, the protector of the Water Country."

The Samurai glanced at Alea before they looking impatiently away from her, earning a growl from her. They did their best to ignoring her though as they looked right at the Leaf Ninja. "Yes. She's been quite the troublesome little brat." The tall thin one said.

"Then I'm doing my job right." Alea shot, though she sounded rather annoyed with him.

The Samurai ignored her. The tall thin one moved forward a step as he mentioned to himself. "My name is Zori. My companion is Waraji. As you probably already have guessed, we are the Leaders of the Renegades. We heard about what happened between..." He paused to glance between Rock Lee and the Three Chakra Brothers. "One of your people and our men. We came to apologize for the inconvenience and to make it up to you. Who is your squad Leader?" He asked, quite curiously.

Neji frowned slightly but shook his head. "His name is Gai Maito. But I'm second in charge." He told them.

Alea frowned as she looked over at him but stopped when Lee shook his head at her, waving a hand at her to not say anything. She didn't know if it was true that Neji was second in charge, but then again, she did remember Lee telling her that Neji had been the first to become Jounin of the team. So it would be the Hyuuga who would be in second command of the team. She didn't like that, but she did respect him so she wouldn't say anything.

Zori reached up and rubbed his chin rather thoughtfully before nodding. He seemed to have come to a conclusion about something. Glancing over his shoulder at the Chakra Brothers, he gave them a nod. And when the three Chakra brothers started to move forward, all four teenage ninja snapped into a stance, looking ready for a fight. The Samurai quickly rose his hands, as if trying to calm them. "Whoa. Don't be too hasty. We're not here to fight. We've come to negotiate actually." He told them.

The three Leaf Ninja were slow to relax but Alea stayed crouching, growling at the Samurai and looking like she wanted to pounce on them. Her eyes had started glowing a little, as if they had flames within them but feeling Rock Lee's hand taking hers, she relaxed only a little. But it didn't stop her from glaring at the Samurai.

"Negotiate?" Neji asked, frowning and tilting his head a little as he remained in some defensive stance but was much more relaxed than before. "For Port City's Freedom from your criminal acts against it?"

Both Zori and Waraji snorted as they glanced at one another before shaking their heads as the motioned to the Chakra Brothers, who the Leaf Ninja and Alea noticed were carrying bags on each of their backs. The Three large Ninja pulled off the bags and tossed them down onto the ground, letting whatever was inside spill out a little. It only surprised all four to see gems, gold, and any kind of currency spilling out a little from the openings. It became very clear to them that the Samurai were trying to bribe them.

"There is nearly a million Zen there, Leaf Ninja." Waraji remarked, his voice very deep and cocky.

Zori nodded as he motioned to the bags, smiling as if he had already won something. "I offer all of this money to you, Leaf Ninja. Take it all. It is far more than what this village can even pay you. Under the condition of you leaving and staying out of our business as we continue to reek our revenge on this stupid city." He stated, a sly smile on his face.

Every one of the four teenagers froze, frowning in surprise. That was a lot of money, definitely far more than what Tazuna was offering them for protection of the city. Any mercenary would have to be a fool not to take that money and leave as it was ordered. The offer was very tempting. Even Alea knew that. She was looking at the other three with wide eyes, her breath caught in her chest. "No...no! You can't take the money! These people need your help! I need your help protecting it!" She gasped.

"Take the money, Leaf Ninja." Zori warned carefully. "It is a better pay than what these villagers are giving you. I'm sure your Hokage would agree. I hear she loves getting a high profit for work. This is what I offer."

Alea shook her head as she shot him a glare before looking at Lee again, stopping when he held up a hand to her, giving the two Samurai a very serious look. "It is true that our Hokage likes getting a high pay raise. In truth, if we were some other village, we might just take up your offer." He told them.

Tenten snorted as she placed her hands onto her waist and shook her head, giving the Samurai just as a dark look. "You don't know our village too well, do you, Samurai? Yes, like any Ninja Village, we take jobs for profit. But do you honestly think we are like you?"

"The answer is no. Even our Squad Leader would say so. We do not abandon those who need our help." Neji said his tone very serious and cold. "Besides, that money you are offering is probably not yours to begin with. We know you have been raiding travelers that have been trying to come to Port City for trades and markets. Everything you are offering is not yours to be paying us with."

The two Samurai renegades frowned in surprise as they stared at the ninja with alarm. They couldn't believe that they had just denied their offer. They had never really met ninja who wood do that. Both slowly, their faces darkened as they glared at the three Leaf Ninja and their hands gripped their katana tightly. Their reactions was paying off a little on the three Chakra Brothers, for Jirai and Jiro were growling as they flexed their fists, looking ready to stomp forward. Jirati just frowned as he eyed the three Leaf ninja with disapproval. He wasn't going to say anything at all. His eyes hardly had left Lee though, watching him very carefully.

Zori bared his teeth as he eyed Neji very darkly. "No? You refuse our offer?" He asked his voice threatening.

Neji dipped his head a little lower as he stared just as darkly at the Samurai. He didn't like repeating himself but it looked like he was going to have to anyway. "Yes. We refuse. This village hired us first and we made a contract with them that we would protect them from you. Besides, I know a certain loud mouth would never forgive us if we let you go and destroy this city when some of his friends live here. Nor would the Kazekage. From their time protecting this city, they've grown close to the people. Naruto and Gaara would never forgive us." He said sternly. "Nor would Sakura or Kakashi. So, no. We don't accept your money. We will defeat you and your army of renegades."

Both Zori and Waraji glared even harder at Neji before they shot the Chakra Brothers a look, giving them a nod. "Very well. I had hoped that we would settle this peacefully. But looks like I was wrong. Kill them!" Zori ordered.

The Chakra Brothers gave a sharp nod at their orders before they looked at the four teenagers again. Jirati had been the first to look reluctant but with a sigh, he shook his head. He looked directly at Rock Lee. "I had not wanted to kill you, boy, because you did honor me when you thought you had killed me in our first fight. But my orders are still orders. And these two are paying us a good deal of money. So I must do as I am told." He glanced at his two younger brothers, nodding to them. "We took it easy on you the first time because you were only one Ninja, but now that your numbers have doubled some, we will not take it easy on you." He told them.

Lee snapped into his normal stance of folding an arm behind his back and holding the other out as he gave them a very serious look. "I do not expect you to take it easy on me, Jirati. I had hoped that you would not force my hand with this but you leave me no choice. I will fight you to protect this city!" He said boldly.

Tenten nodded as she quickly fished out her weapon scrolls and held them tightly in her hands, prepared to fight with all she had.

Neji remained standing still, giving the three Chakra Brothers a daring look but there was a hint of a smile on his face. He was looking forward to do this. With a reputation as these three might have, he believed this might actually be testing his skills. "Three on three. I will take you, Jirati." He said, surprising both Tenten and Lee; as well as Alea.

Alea frowned deeply as she registered what he said before shaking her head and balling her fists up tightly. "What?! I will be fighting too, Hyuuga!" She snapped.

"No. I don't trust you. You said that you were not a ninja. So you will stand back." Neji said darkly giving her a stern look. "If you really are who you think you are, then stand down and watch us take them on."

Growling, Alea started to lean towards him, looking ready to rush at him and give him a piece of her mind but she stopped when Lee held up a hand, blocking her. She gave him an alarmed look but he only smiled faintly at her and shook his head. "Alea, let us take care of them. I would like to show you how good I am." He told her before leaning closer to her. "And if we need your help, you can jump in. But please, just stand by for now."

Alea stared at him for a moment before she sighed and nodded as she folded her arms and relaxed. "Fine. I'll stay back for now. But if you get into trouble," She snapped her eyes towards the Chakra Brothers, looking almost evil and mischievous. "I'm taking over." She told him.

"I don't think we'll need your help." Tenten remarked, just as dryly as Neji was looking at her.

"We'll see." Alea said, smirking a sharp toothed smile at her.

The three Leaf Ninja moved forward to stand down with the Chakra Brothers; Neji facing Jirati, Tenten with Jiro and Lee with Jirai. Of course, Lee wanted to face Jirati but he would respect Neji's wishes and allow him to have his chance with the oldest Chakra Brother. He only hoped that his friend and comrade would not get hurt in the process. He would have to keep a close eye on their battle, if he could. He did not forget that Jirai was a tricky one. To be able to control the very air all around him, Rock Lee would have to make sure that he could handle the lack of air while fighting this one.

For a moment, neither side moved but stared down their opponents. It was almost like a countdown before anyone moved. And after a moment, as a wind full of leaves blew between the six, everyone moved at the same time, charging at one another.

Lee was moving as fast as he could towards Jirai who smirked at him as he charged right back at him before swinging a meaty fist at the Taijutsu specialist. He came very close to hitting the green clad Ninja but he missed by a few inches as his young opponent quickly ducked up and began swinging his fists, slamming them into Jirai's large stomach. The youngest of the three Chakra Brothers gave a loud choke as his air was knocked from his lungs from the impact but he was quick to gather it back into his lungs before spinning around in a full circle, trying to kick out at Lee.

Unfortunately for him, Lee proved to be a lot faster than him. Between either one of them, the younger Ninja was faster. It was all due to the fact that Jirai was big in size. So as Jirai continued to swat at the Taijutsu Artist, Lee continued to dodge, with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Maaaan, why did I have to get stuck with the little girl?" Jiro groaned loudly as he ended up facing Tenten. He was not happy about this at all. In all honesty, he believed that facing her was a waste of his time. His remark furthered her annoyance for his lack of belief of her skills and she glared harder at him. He ignored her look though as he made a face and sighed so impatiently that could have matched Shikamaru's unenthusiastic sighs he usually made. "This is so stupid! I can't believe I have to fight a meek little girl!"

Tenten gripped her scrolls so tightly that her knuckles nearly turned white while her eyes flashed angrily. She was starting to lose her nerve with this guy and she was going to make him pay. "Do not underestimate me!" She snapped before she was quickly throwing out one of her scrolls to the side, yet holding onto the ends of it so that he would shoot open. "Weapon Bostaff Release!" She yelled before spinning in a circle and grabbing at the long wooden staff that seemed to pop right out of the paper. She was quick to shoving her other scrolls back into her hip pouch before she was lunging at Jiro with her bostaff.

Surprised, Jiro was slow to dodging the weapon, getting the end of the stick across the head, knocking him a little off balance. He was more stunned than ever getting hit by the stick though. It was something he hadn't been expecting. "What the...?!" He murmured before his face darkened and he moved to attack her, swinging his meaty fist at her. He was only more surprised when Tenten dodged, swinging around on her bostaff to kick him across the face, only angering him a little more.

"So you're a Hyuuga." Jirati said calmly, standing before Neji.

Neji narrowed his pale eyes at his opponent as he stood in the usual Hyuuga stance but did not move to fight just yet. He was going to wait for the Chakra Brother to move first. "So what if I am?" He asked, just as calmly. He didn't want to be caught off guard by this one after hearing he was the strongest and more powerful of the three. He knew he would have to be careful around Jirati.

Jirati just smiled and shook his big head, dark eyes meeting the younger ninja's. He still did not move into any stance at all but remained calm as ever. "Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. I was only curious because I have heard of your clan. The Hyuuga clan is said to possess a very interesting eye ability, the Byakugan. The All Seeing Eye. It's said that a Hyuuga can see through one's body, into the Chakra systems." He smirked tilting his head to the side but keeping his eyes directly onto Neji. "That is correct, no?"

There was a short pause as Neji remained motionless, staring directly at Jirati. He didn't see the point of this. Anyone knew about the Hyuuga clan and the family traits. "Your point is?" He asked, blankly.

"I take that as a yes." Jirati chuckled before nodding his head towards Neji. "Do me a favor, Hyuuga. Activate your Byakugan and scan my chakra level. You might learn something." He told him. He almost chuckled even louder when Neji started a little, looking at him as if he was nuts. "You don't understand? Well, it's simple. I want you to see my Chakra Level. I want you to see what you're up against."

Neji just stared at Jirati with surprise before dipping his head down a little, gritting his teeth. He didn't understand what this guy's plan was. It could have been a distraction but he wasn't entirely sure. He also didn't want to be caught off guard by him. But there couldn't be a way he would be distracted too much. Even if he did activate his Byakugan and Jirati attacked, he would be prepared for it. So with his eyes narrowed a little, he quickly formed the hand signs and his eyes snapped wider open, pulsing the veins around his lavender colored eyes. 'Let's see what his deal is...WHAT?!' He thought in sudden shock.

Everything was nearly black and white in Neji's vision, like it usually was. But there was something different. The aura surrounding Jirati was intense. It was nearly blinding white, showing only his body form. There was large blaze filling throughout his body, so powerful that he couldn't believe it. And it wasn't just Jirati that he caught sight of. It was the other two. Their bodies were not as blinding white as the oldest brother's was but they were still very intense.

'What?! This can't be! His Chakra Level...their Chakra levels! They're nearly as high as Kisame Hoshigaki! Close but not even!'

Jirati seemed to guess his thoughts because he smirked at him and folded his large arms. "You see it, don't you, Hyuuga. You and your comrades can't beat us." He told him, shaking his head. "You will lose."

And then he was moving towards Neji. Fast!


	17. Chapter Sixteen

With a meaty fist flying at his head and nearly being blinded by the Chakra Level, Neji did the only thing he could do and that was jump back as far as he could. He merely felt a brush of Jirati's fist skim his nose as he leapt back, feeling a sharp pull at his Chakra when their skin almost connected. He was only too glad that Jirati hadn't charged again just yet as he gathered his balance and snapped into another stance.

'Damn it! He barely touched me and I still feel his power working against me.' Neji thought to himself as he gritted his teeth.

However, his eyes snapped wide open when Jirati decided to charge again and start swinging his fists at him. Neji knew he couldn't let this guy lay a hit on him so all he could do was dodge until he could figure something out. He wanted nothing more than to just lay this guy down but remembering what Gai had said, one touch of this Ninja could be his undoing.

How in the world was he going to beat him if he couldn't touch him?

And that's when he caught sight of Alea standing off to the side, watching him like a hawk. He was surprised to see that she was watching him fight and not Rock Lee, more or less, he hated that she was. He did not want her to see him struggling. But it wasn't just that she was watching him fight. He saw something else.

Her Chakra level was unusually high. It was bright as hell fire, nearly as bright as Jirati's was. Yet, there was something else about it that he couldn't put his finger on. Something rather sinister about her Chakra was bugging him, yet it didn't seem to be threatening towards him.

'What the hell...?' Neji thought to himself.

"Hyuga, don't be looking at me and my Chakra level! Duck!" Alea suddenly yelled at him. It was to his own surprise that he actually listened to her and dove down into a crouch just as Jirati came close to punching him again. "Roll to your right side!" He heard her yell at him.

Again, Neji was surprised that his body listened to her as he dove to his right side before spinning to his feet and shot her a dark look. "Quit telling me what to do! I know what I'm doing!" He shot back at her.

Alea ignored him as she smirked watching as Jirati also shot her a look before spinning back to attack Neji. "Just listen to me and you can beat him, Hyuga! Turn off your Byakugan! It's just going to be a hinderance to your fighting! His Chakra level is just too high!" She called him.

Neji would have shot her another dark look if he wasn't too busy trying to dodge Jirati's fist. He did see her point though. He was barely able to see past his own Jutsu because of the offending Ninja's Chakra. So with the quick swiftness of his hands, he deactivated his Byakugan and moved back to avoid getting punched again.

"Hm. Listening to the Cloud Ninja, are we?" Jirati sneered, before lashing out a foot.

Barely escaping from getting kicked in the side, Neji's eyes snapped wide open from surprise before having to back flip away from Jirati. He even saw Alea stiffen from what the fat Ninja said. So it had to be true. She must have been a Cloud Ninja.

'Of course!' Neji thought savagely as he shot her a very dark and hateful look. 'That's why she knows about me! She's one of those murderous Cloud Ninja who murdered my father. I'll kill her later! Right now I can't deal with her!'

Straightening up a little, yet remaining in his Hyuga stance, Neji glared directly at Jirati. "I am not listening to her, Jirati." He said, a lot more calmly that he actually felt. "Right now, you are my enemy and not her. I'll deal with you first then her."

And then he charged forward, hands moving fast to strike at Jirati.

That proved to be a very big mistake. The large Ninja didn't even move to avoid his strike but smirked when the Hyuga's hand smashed against his blocking arm. Jirati could have laughed harshly when Neji's eyes snapped wide open and he let out a yelp when he felt the sharp pull of his Chakra before yanking back. "I'm pretty sure you should know that touching me any where would diminish your Chakra, Neji Hyuga. But I didn't know that you would actually try it." He remarked, smartly. "And I thought you were a Jounin."

Neji moved back several feet before reaching up and grabbing his arm, which felt heavy from getting stung by this guy. He could barely feel it even if it was just a brief strike. His arm felt numb and it dangled by his side. He couldn't even lift it. 'Damn it! Neji, snap out of it! You're letting your anger blind you!' He thought sharply at himself.

"ARGH!" a scream from Tenten caught his attention.

Snapping his head around, Neji saw Tenten go flying into a tree as water attacked her. She was sure taking the heat after attacking Jiro like she had been moments ago. Apparently wacking him with her weapons had set off his temper and he got fed up. Summoning water from the very bay, Jiro sent it crashing against her, knocking her bostaff out of her hands and washing it over her. She could barely move now as his water began drilling for her Chakra.

Lee was doing a little better than her but was still struggling. He looked as if he was holding his breath while Jirai was now trying to thicken the air all around him to bring him down. It would only be a matter of time before he lost all of that air.

"Damn!" Neji cursed before taking a step to go help them.

WHAM!

Neji did not see Jirati coming at him as he had been distracted by his team mate's struggles. He hadn't seen the large Ninja use that distraction to charge at the tall, slender Noble and slam him against the tree behind him, while keeping his hands locked on his arms and starting to drain his Chakra.

Cursing loudly, Neji tried to kick Jirati off of him but his strength was starting to drain along with his Chakra level. He even started feeling very numb from being attacked like that.

"Damn it!" Alea swore as she watched Team Gai's struggle and started to take a step forward to go help them. It was time to interfere. She knew they had another fight within them but right now, they were trapped in a corner. Balling up her fists tightly, she started to raise up her own Chakra level.

But suddenly, before she could even move, there was an explosion of smoke in the middle of the clearing, surprising her. It even caught the Chakra Brothers' attention, making them whirl around in their surprise. But before they even had the chance to see what it was, something, or someone had grabbed and kicked Jiro and Jirai away from Rock Lee and Tenten, sending them crashing against Jirati. All three large ninja went stumbling and rolling against the ground, yelling out in pain or cursing as Jirati's Chakra drain struck the other two, rendering them rather useless after being stung.

After a moment of shoving his useless brothers off of him, Jirati was on his feet, glaring at who just interfered. He frowned when he saw an older version of the young ninja, Rock Lee standing before him in a perfect stance and ready to fight him. "Huh? What is this?" He asked, raising his own fists and readying himself.

"Gai-sensei!" Rock Lee called cheerfully as he stood up straighter.

Gai didn't look at him but kept a serious gaze right on Jirati. He knew better than to look away from his opponent such as this one was. He had been watching a little of his team's fights with the Brothers. "So you think you can harm my team without paying for it, do ya, Jirati? Well, you're wrong! And now, you're opponent is me! Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, take a breather for now! You did well but right now, Jirati is too tough for you." He told them.

Neji pushed himself to his feet, cursing silently but he nodded to Gai, as did Tenten and Rock Lee who joined him. They only watched as their former teacher face off with the large remaining Ninja while the other two were still down from being stung by Jirati's Chakra drain.

"So, you're Mighty Gai." Jirati remarked, smirking at the spoken and looking him over. "I heard you were nearly a match up for that infamous Kakashi Hatake, the Sharingan Ninja. But I didn't expect you to be this ugly."

"WHY YOU...!" Rock Lee exclaimed in rage, starting to take a step forward. But more than two pairs hands stopped him, making him turn to see Alea had joined them, much to Neji's anger and disgust.

Gai, however, snorted as if he was going to laugh at Jirati's words. He didn't even look offended at all, though deep within, he was imaging pounding the hell out of this guy. "You are misinformed, Jirati. I am stronger than Kakashi Hatake. I am his eternal rival who has been a step ahead of him since we were in the Academy." He remarked. "As for who is the ugliest between us, I would have to say you are. At least I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast while you are a Chakra Eating Fat Ninja who could never add up to anything I've done. I have at least beaten some of the Akatsuki. Have you ever done such a task?"

Beside Lee, Alea stiffened when she heard those words, looking at the Jounin in surprise. She looked as if she couldn't believe him but to actually confirm that, she looked to Lee, who met her eyes and grinned, dipping his head into a nod.

Angry, however, Jirati let out a growl before charging at his enemy and swung his fists. He expected that Gai would make the same mistake as Neji had and blocked his attack. But instead, Gai leapt backwards and began moving to avoid getting touched at all. He kept jumping back away from the angry large Ninja, doing very well in the process. It mostly just an evasive manuver that Gai was putting out. He would dodge behind a tree to slow down Jirati, ducking under the flying debries of tree splinters.

The three young Leaf Ninja could only watch as they tried to regain their strength and nerve, while Alea watched the Jounin move so swiftly. She was impressed, to be honest. She hadn't thought Gai could be so fast and moving away from Jirati so well. 'He's not bad.' She thought to herself.

'You know it's only a matter of time before you have to release me. Even if Mighty Gai succeeds in avoiding Jirati's attacks, he can't put it up forever. And just by touching Jirati, he could be defeated quickly.'Nekomata's voice purred within her head.

Alea merely nodded as a gentle sigh escaped her lips. She knew that her inner demon was right. It was only a matter of time before she was going to have to step in and reveal herself. She wasn't going to like this. If she did what Nekomata was suggesting, there was a very good chance that the Akatsuki might find out that she was still alive and came after her.

What then?

Could she seriously endanger Lee and his comrades because of their persistence of capturing her?

She knew that any time before she actually met Rock Lee, she might say yes immediately. But after the few days of letting him get to know her and she getting to know him, she had to force herself to saying no.

Suddenly, the cat within her began to growl and a second later, Alea knew why. She jerked herself out of her thoughts when she saw sudden movement beside her, causing her to quickly spin away from where she had been standing to see that it was none other than Neji who had swung at her. She wasn't surprised to see him now attacking her. But his comrades sure were.

"Neji!" Lee gasped jerking around.

But Neji ignored him as he glared right at Alea, fury dancing in his pale eyes as he felt so much hatred towards her. He wasn't going to hesitate any longer. This girl was a part of the village the murdered his father in his uncle's place to protect the Byakugan secrets and he felt like extracting little rage on her.

"You! You're a Cloud Ninja! An enemy of the Leaf Village!" Neji ground out, forming his Hyuga stance and preparing to attack her again.

Quickly, Lee placed himself between Neji and Alea, shaking his head. He did not want to fight his own team mate and friend just to stop his anger. He had made a promise to Alea that he would help her and he meant it. Even if having to protect her from Neji. "Neji, do not do this..." He was saying.

"Lee! You knew about her, didn't you? That's why she's been so friendly to you! She's trying to use you to succeed..." It was Neji's turn to be interupted.

"No, Neji, she is not! I can not let you attack her!" Lee spoke up, though there was a very worried look in his eye as he held up a hand to keep Neji back. He did not want to do this. He did not want to have to fight with his team mate to keep Alea's secret. Not after being team mates with the Hyuga Prodigy for so many years. "Please, stand down."

Neji glared at Lee next, while Tenten was frozen stiff right where she stood. She had no idea what was going on and she certainly didn't have a clue what to do to stop it. She felt torn between friends as she glance from one young man to the other, trying to fight herself to say something. Anything!

But it was Alea who spoke up. The dark haired tight rope walker sighed heavily before she stepped forward and carefully put her hand on Lee's shoulder, surprising him. She shook her head at him as she moved past him, keeping her hand onto his shoulder. Instead, she looked directly at Neji, meeting his infuriated glare. "My name," She paused to glance at Lee when he started. "My name is Yugito Nii. And yes. I am a Cloud Ninja. And no, I am not using Lee to distract you or anything. Lee knew about me, yes. But after that little out burst between myself and Tenten." She glanced to the Weapon Specialist, who looked very surprised. She quickly met Neji's darkening glare as she stepped closer to him. "I am not your enemy, Neji Hyuga. But we do have a common enemy."

There was nothing else that Neji wanted to do than to snap at her to shut up before attacking her, using every skill he had to bring her down.

However, before Neji could move, she did.

It surprised Lee that Alea actually jumped forward, raising a fist as if she was going to accept the challenge against Neji. He was too startled to even move as he watched her lunge at his team mate, who quickly prepared himself to fight her.

That is until, Neji's own eyes flashed wide open before he whirled around on his heel, grabbing Tenten by the arm and swinging her out the way just as a katana nearly sliced through her head. He ignored her shout of protest, as well as Alea as she stomped down hard on the blade, forcing the Samurai to nearly drop it. It was the big one. Waraji. He looked down right angry that she had made him drop his katana and was rightfully glaring at her for it.

Still standing on the blade, Alea gave the big one a smirk before she snapped up a leg and nailed him across the face. The impact sent him spinning back away from her and the Leaf Ninja. He sure looked surprised that she had managed to do it too. He shot her an alarmed look after catching himself on a tree before straightening up and glancing at Zori when he moved over to join him, glaring at the young female ninja.

"So, you want to join in the little game?" Alea asked, her tone dangerously playful as she crouched a little lower. "It's not very honorable of you to try and slice a girl's head open when her back is turned to you. Even the Samurai would never do something so low. So that must mean that you're not much of a Samurai."

Waraji growled before starting to step forward again. He only stopped when Zori grabbed a hold of his shoulder, keeping him back from attacking. He wanted nothing more than to just shove his companion off of him but stayed back, knowing very well not to anger him.

Zori, on the other hand, just narrowed his eyes at the young dark haired Kunoichi, almost studying her. "Be careful, Waraji. Remember what she is capable of." He reminded him.

Neji and Tenten frowned as they glanced over at Alea, who was just smiling a very dangerous smile. They weren't sure what she was capable of but they also didn't want to take any chances, their selves.

But Lee, however, just smiled as he eyed the two Samurai in front of them. He had not seen what Alea could do, but he had an idea. If she was anything like Gaara or Naruto, then she was more than likely able to take down these two. And he was very sure that she might even be able to take at least one of the Chakra Brothers, if not all of them.

Alea just kept on smiling that coy smile as she crouched even lower, nearly letting her hands touch the ground below her feet. She looked more like a predator, getting ready to attack her prey. "That's right, boys. Don't mess with the kitty cat. You remember when I fried half of your men, don't you?" She said, her eyes narrowing as steam began to waver all around her, surprising Neji and Tenten. It was truth be told, that she didn't even seem aware of their presense right at the moment. Her complete attention was on the two Samurai.

"Do you really think you can take the both of us on by yourself, Cloud Ninja?" Zorii asked, his eyes narrowing at her. "You couldn't possibly..."

"Do not tell me what I can and can't do, Samurai." Alea hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously at him but she kept a smirk on her face. "I'm way out of your league. I'm way above your league. And if you don't call off your dogs, they're going to deal with me."

Both Samurai snorted from dark humor as they glanced at one another before they both moved forward a step, holding their katana tightly in their hands. Warajii even laughed loudly at her as if she had just told a hilarious joke. "You cannot possibly stand a chance against the Chakra Brothers, more or less, against us, little Cloud." He snorted loudly.

Alea just smirked at him before she snapped into a crouch, nearly low to the ground and one hand clawed in front of her. "I don't know about that, fatboy. Maybe we should find out." She remarked slyly.

"WHY YOU...!" The large Samurai snarled at her before he charged and this time his partner did not stop him. Zorii was just as annoyed as he was by this girl's assumptions so he would allow his partner to show her up. He just stood back to watch as the other Samurai brutally attacked the girl. He would not jump in unless he needed to.

With the katana swinging at her, Alea knew she better draw this away from Team Guy before they ended up getting hurt. She quickly and lightly kicked out at Lee, lightly shoving him away before barrel rolling right under the large Samurai's legs as he tried to bring the blade down where she had just been. The young tight rope walker just smirked as she listened to him roar out in rage before she spun quickly on her palms and smashed her foot across the angry man's face, sending him spinning away from her. She frowned a little when Lee started to take a step forward as if to help her out. But he caught her eyes when she shook her head at him, almost asking him silently to just watch. Her only answer was a nod as he stood up straight and prepared to survey the battle with Neji and Tenten. He knew that Alea could do it on her own.

Waraji snarled as he rubbed his chin before charging at the girl, swinging his katana. He only grew angrier when she spun to her feet and dodged each swing before lashing out with hand and actually slicing open his arm with her fingers. "Argh! You little...!" He roared before slashing down at her again.

Once again, Alea dodged easily away from the spinning katana with a smirk on her face. Her hands raised into tiger claw positions, giving a fair warning to the Samurai that she would use a tiger style hand to hand with him. If he was not careful, she could cause him a lot of injuries.

Of course, the Samurai didn't seem to care for he sliced the air in front of him before moving forward to attack her again. Only this time, his blade started to glow a violent red, surprising the Leaf Ninja and making the Cloud only narrow her eyes at him. He stopped charging at her with only about five feet between them before raising his katana for a high slash. "Fire Edge!" He snapped before swinging it down at her.

The katana seemed to suddenly catch fire as it came down before it exploded away from the blade and struck out at Alea, making her flinch as the fire burned her arm. She hissed painfully as she quickly back flipped away from the rest of the flames trying to hit her, landing in a low crouch. She did not look amused at all. "Oh, so you think you can play with fire around me, huh? I guess you haven't learned your lesson about that yet." She said coldly before she quickly stood up and threw her hand forward in a claw. "Well, let's play with fire then!"

Fire exploded into the palm of her hand, coursing all around her fingers as it grew bigger and began licking down her arm over the burn that Waraji's blade had caused. The flames forming her hand seemed to caress the burn and slowly heal the burn.

"Fire Style Strike!" Alea hissed out just as more flames began to course right out of her hands, surrounding them.

With her hands alit, the Cloud Ninja began to swirl her hands around each other, causing the flames to seem to dance all around her before she stomped a foot and more fire exploded around her feet. Both her hands and feet were now burning with flames, yet not causing her any damage at all. "Let's dance then, Samurai!"

And she charged, now swinging her hands and spinning her feet as she began to attack Waraji.

All the while, the three Leaf Ninja watched in nearly amazement. Lee had not seen his new friend in action like this but now seeing her fighting like this, he had to admit it. She was more amazing than he had thought before. He had never seen Jutsu like this before. He knew that her being something different than him or his team mates, being like Naruto and Gaara, she could probably handle anything that the Samurai threw at her.

With only a brief glance at Neji and Tenten, Lee was not surprised to see the astonished looks on their faces. It made him smile. At least they were getting an idea of what Alea was capable of. And he hoped that Neji wouldn't try to attack her again.

However, a splash of water brought the green clad ninja's attention away from his team mates before he nearly yelped to see a large wave of water now rising out of the bay and flying at Alea. "Alea!" He gasped now quickly stepping forward to help her.

But before he could take another step, a blast of wind nearly blew him, Neji and Tenten over, earning shouts of alarm from them as they felt the air literately turning heavy for them. It made all three of them fall to their knees, trying to fight back. But with a brief glance, he saw the Chakra Brothers, Jirai and Jiro back on their feet and deciding to aid Waraji, while attacking the three Leaf Ninja at the same time while they hadn't been looking.

Alea, however, had heard the splashes of water but had not been expecting a large wave of it to crash over her, putting out her flames. She gave a loud yowl of shock as she was shoved off her feet from the pounding water and being pushed down from the Chakra Brother Jiro. She barely had time to even see that Jirai was harming Lee, Neji and Tenten by trying to crush them with air before she felt a sharp edge stab into her side. She couldn't stop herself from screaming within the surrounding water as she sharply looked back at the grinning Waraji who had attacked her when she wasn't able to move.

"Looks like your time is up, little girl!" The Samurai sneered as he pushed his katana deeper into her side, forcing blood to gush from her side and mix with the water.

"Al-Alea!" Lee gasped, trying to push himself to his feet but he ended up getting slammed to the ground by Jirai's wind. He was now gasping and choking for the air that was being forced away from him.

Hissing in pain, Alea glanced over her shoulder at him before looking back at Waraji. 'Damn it! I...can't...move! This water is just too...! Neko!' She cried out.

'Are you sure, kitten? Because once I do this, there's no going back and it might attract unwanted attention.' Nekomata hissed into her head.

Alea found enough strength to grab the katana stabbing in her side and gripped it tightly, even though it was slicing her fingers open. She couldn't stop a whimper of pain from escaping her, as well as a part of her breath. She knew that Nekomata had a point. If she did this now, it was more than likely it would attract the attention of the Akatsuki. She didn't want that. But seeing that Lee, Neji and Tenten was in pain because their lungs were nearly being crushed by Jirai's air manipulation, she did not have much of a choice.

'Do it!' She shouted at her feline demon.

Waraji was nearly laughing his head off as he tried to push the katana deeper into his victim. He wasn't even looking into the ball of water as he glanced over at Zori, seeing if he was watching. But seeing the growing frown on his companion and feeling his blade give a jerk, he had to look back at the sphere of water, only to freeze.

Something was happening!

Inside the sphere, there was a violent blue light now starting to swirl all around the girl, not letting anyone see her. The lights began to glow brighter just as steam began to trickle out of the sphere. It was like the water was starting to heat up quickly and bubble right out of the sphere.

If that was not enough, there was low rumble, causing everyone to stop what they were doing just to watch the sphere as the water began to ripple and bubble violently. Even the air, itself seemed to start to heat up, causing it to turn a little muggy.

"What the hell...?" Waraji barely had time to say before the water seemed to explode, shooting every where as flames broke the sphere. He had to yank back, stumbling over his own feet just to escape from the intensive heat before looking wildly at the flames starting to swirl all around where the girl had been.

Even Jiro and Jirai were startled enough to stop their element manipulation, letting Lee, Neji and Tenten gasp for their breath before looking to watch what was happening.

The flames swirling around Alea were not like any flames they had seen before. They were an almost evil blue and purple, swirling around the area. They were even growing bigger, expanding until a rather inhuman growl broke out of the flames as smoke around the base of the flames began to swirl with them. It was the most oddest thing they had all seen.

But nothing could prepare them for what began to rise out of the swirling flames.

A large body of blue flames seemed to stand up before a pair of tails lashed out into the air, snapping at the two Chakra Brothers, causing them to stumble back to avoid getting hit.

It was only Lee whose breath caught as he realized what just happened. He realized what Alea had done. "Nekomata..." He found himself murmur in awe as the giant fire cat lashed out its tails again, clearing the smoke as it turned its burning blue eyes onto the alarmed Samurai before it.

"Wh-what...what is that thing?" Tenten gasped as she grabbed her giant weapon scroll and clutched onto it as if she was going to use it.

Almost as if it heard her words, the fire cat merely glanced over at her before looking at Lee. It was then, it's large ears pressed against its head as it eyed him. Lee almost caught his breath when he realized that it was looking a little forlorn for him seeing it. He knew that it was Alea, no. Yugito Nii was bothered with him seeing her Tailed Demon form. He recalled how she said it was an ugly Beast and she always thought she looked just as hideous.

In a way, it was rather ugly.

But Lee didn't see it that way. He looked right into its eyes and he only imagined a rather elegant beast standing before him. He understood that Yugito Nii was feeling worried that he would think she was hideous.

But all the Leaf Ninja could do was smile before he quickly moved forward, dodging Tenten and Neji's grabbing hands as they tried to stop him from going near the Tailed Beast. He went straight over to the Nekomata, ignoring her as she leaned away from him. He just reached out and carefully held out his hand towards her shoulder and lightly patted it without being burned.

"See, Alea. I told you that you weren't ugly." Lee said, grinning at her.

The Nekomata blinked almost as if surprised by his words before her eyes softened and she snapped her head forward at the enemies before her, growling. Her fiery fur seemed to stand on end as she began to crouch low, looking ready to pounce.

"Then let's take care of these wicked fiends, Rock Lee! Let's end their reign of terror for the Port City!"Nekomata hissed as her two tails began waving in the air.

Lee's head snapped into a nod before he folded one hand behind his back and threw the other one out before him, looking straight at Waraji. "Yes! Let's fight together! Come on, Nekomata, Yugito Nii! Let us defend Inari-chan and his village from these villains! And then we will take on the Akatsuki together! I will be honored to fight beside you and I give you my word that they will not hurt you! They will not extract the Nekomata from you! And I will help you find Killer Bee, with Gaara and Naruto's help!" He said loudly.

The only reply he got from the Two Tailed Beast was a pleasant hiss before they both lunged at the Chakra Brothers and the Samurai in seperate directions. Neither of them bothered to look at the astonished and awed looks on Neji or Tenten's faces. Nor even Gai's when he caught sight of what just happened. He didn't even see Jirati coming at him from behind because he had been distracted.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

It was very quiet now. The battle was over.

It had been a very strange fight, in deed. No one had realized that this...this would be the outcome of the fight. None of the Leaf Ninja, other than Lee, could believe that they would be standing in front of a new Jinchuriki, who had her hands folded behind her back, looking almost shy after they had found out her secret. She was standing directly beside Lee, waiting for the explosion from Neji or even Tenten. She knew they had two Jinchuriki friends, but she wasn't like them; Gaara and Naruto. She was from a village that theirs did not get along with at all.

But more or less, she was still waiting for them to say something.

It was the outcome of the battle that had startled Neji, Tenten and even Gai from saying anything. They were still trying to register what they had seen while fighting the Samurai and the Chakra Brothers.

Not more than a half an hour ago, the other three members of Team Gai had watched the tight rope expert turn into a giant fiery cat and fight beside Rock Lee, taking on Jiro, Jirai and Waraji. It had not even been hard for them to do.

It wasn't even hard to even knock Waraji out for Nekomata. She only lashed out her tail at him, knocking him hard into a tree and causing it to collapse right on top of him. He was out before the fight even started with him. So that just left Jirai and Jiro for Rock Lee and the Two Tailed Cat to face.

Even though they didn't know what they were exactly up against, the two Chakra Brothers charged to attack them with water and air swirling around them. They weren't even expecting Lee to somersault right over their heads before kicking them hard in the backs, knocking them forward so that Nekomata could puff up its chest as a loud rumble started to come right out of its chest.

"Lee! Get out of the way!"The fire cat hissed before it shot its head forward and fire exploded out of its mouth, swarming the two Chakra Brothers.

Lee had managed to leap to the side before he could become engulfed in flames, spinning quickly on his heels just to watch as Jiro and Jirai were being trapped in the flames. He felt some remorse when they both started yelling out in pain as they were being burned alive. He felt bad for them for having to be killed this way. It was not the way he would have ended them, but he knew it had to be done.

So all he could do was watch as the two Chakra Brothers fell into flaming black lumps to the ground.

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten suddenly shrieked, making all of them turn sharply around to see that Jirati had finally gotten a hold of the Leaf Jounin and was sucking out all of his Chakra.

Gai was on his knees, trapped in a head lock by the oldest Chakra Brother and doing as much as he could of trying to get him off but the sting of Jirati's Chakra drain was rendering him helpless. He could barely move now as his Chakra was being ripped from him.

Jirati was glaring towards the giant fire cat for killing his brothers. He knew this had just turned into a very sticky situation. So it was time to up his plan. He would need as much Chakra as he could and because of the Leaf Jounin having enough, he would take it. He would need it if he was going to take on a Tailed Beast. "So, you're one of the Legendary Nine Tailed Beasts, the Two Tailed Cat." He simply said before threw a weakened Gai against a tree and puffing up a little with his head down low. "I know a few people who would be very interested in your whereabouts. I should just run off and find those interesting people but you just killed my brothers! I will not let their deaths go in vain for this!" He twirled his arms for a moment, forming a deadly looking stance as a icy blue aura began to swirl all around him. "As you may have heard, I was once a experimental subject of the Legendary Sanin, Orochimaru. If not for him, I would not be alive today. But even so, he did give me more than the bones in my body to live. He gave me so much more than that." He then reached up and grabbed the lining of his shirt before ripping it open to reveal his large belly and chest. He took only a moment to rip it off and toss it to side, revealing markings all over his torso. "Now, fire cat, you will feel my sting!"

And just as he said that, his body began to shake viciously before several lumps in his sides began to form, startling the three Leaf and the Two Tailed Cat.

"What the hell is he doing? What are those?" Tenten gasped as she watched beside Neji.

No one said a word as they watched the lumps in his sides grow bigger before his skin seemed to rip open, shocking all of them. Several long but thin tenticles began to pour out of his sides, pressing against the ground and pushing him up into the air.

"I see."Nekomata hissed as she lowered her head and raised her tails high. She was watching the Chakra Brother carefully, hissing in alarm. "Those things seemed to be Chakra made tenticles! He's becoming what he's known as. A giant Jelly fish. This is going to be a be problem. Even Jirati's Chakra Drain can effect me. With those Chakra tenticles, if I get caught in them, it would be the end of me." She looked down at Neji and Tenten, who frowning up at her in suspicion. "I have a plan but I would need your help to do it. I know you do not like Yugito for being a Cloud Ninja, Hyuga. But her keeping me a secret was very nessessary. We have been hiding from Akatsuki for obvious reasons. Surely you can guess why. We will explain later but will you help us?"

Neji frowned up at her, eyeing her carefully. He didn't like the idea of helping a Cloud Ninja. They had been responsible for the nearly abduction of his younger cousin, Hinata, to steal the secrets of the Byakugan and the death of his father. He held a strong grudge against the Hidden Cloud Village for what they had done. But...now seeing what Alea truly was, and knowing that she was being hunted by the Akatsuki, even he had to admit it. They did have a common enemy. It would be in his best interest, as everyone else in the entire Shinobi Nations to protect the Two Tailed Cat. She, in her own fortune, was a very powerful ally that he knew that he would need to make if they were going to take on the Akatsuki.

So he jerked his head forward and snapped into the Hyuga stance, eying the giant jelly fish man before them. "What is your plan, Nekomata?" He asked calmly.

Nekomata's eyes softened a little before flickering over to Tenten to see what her reply was. The young Leaf Kunoichi still looked a little un-nerved but she immediately nodded and grabbed her huge weapons scroll. "What do you need me to do?" She asked, firmly.

So the fire cat silently told them, trying not to let Jirati over hear him. Although, he was still busy pouring his Chakra tenticles out of his sides, growing a good fifteen feet high because of them.

Once Nekomata told the Leaf Ninja her plan, they immediately jumped into action. Both Lee and Neji rushed in opposite directions on either side of the Jelly fish like Ninja and positioned their selves there. Tenten stayed right beside the large fire cat, throwing open her weapons scroll and preparing to use the weapons that came out of them. She snatched her many kunai and shruiken out of the air and held them in her hands, under her arms and even in her teeth, waiting for the signal.

"All right! If we're going to take him down, we need to do it fast! Avoid those tenticles as much as possible, Lee and Neji! Don't let them touch you!" Nekomata called over to them as she stretched out her tails behind her and crouched low to the ground. She merely glanced over at Tenten, meeting her eyes. "Are you ready, Tenten?"

Due to the weapons in her mouth, all Tenten could do was nod before she shifted herself into a stance, ready to start lauching her weapons out at Jirati, who was now watching them very carefull and letting some of his many tenticles wave around him as if he was in water. He was getting ready to strike at any moment.

Nodding back, Nekomata flickered her flaming blue eyes over to where Neji was standing, seeing his nod and then she looked to Lee, who was pulling off weights from under his orange leg warmers. He gave her a thumbs up, letting her know that he was ready.

"Good! Tenten, let them launch!" Nekomata hissed before puffing up her chest again, getting ready to blow fire.

Tenten nodded sharply before she began flinging all of her weapons as hard as she could, one after the other. She had to spin many times just so that they could go faster and harder. She didn't stop for any moment as she threw all of her kunai and shruiken as hard as she could at Jirati. She even threw her throwing stars as hard as she could until she nearly didn't have any weapons left in her hands.

Fire exploded out of the fire cat's mouth right after the weapons, hitting them hard and sending them moving faster at Jirati. They nearly became glowing red bullets as they shot off right at the Jelly fish like Ninja. Only one large Shruiken managed to escape from the flames and was nearly left behind by the others.

Jirati started for a moment before he began yelling in pain as the hot projectiles struck into his tenticles and even sliced through his sides. Some of the sharp and hot blades severed a few of his tenticles, letting them drop uselessly to the ground. He snarled angrily before lashing out several of his tenticles at the fire cat and the Weapons Specialist, ready to sting them with them.

But that's when Neji and Lee quickly turned into nearly white and green blurs, grabbing tree branches and throwing them into the flying tenticles. Many of the tenticles ended up just wrapping around the branchs or slamming them into others, getting them tangled up in each other. The Hyuuga Prodigy, however, was quick to spinning around in a full circle, snatching the remaining large shruiken right out of the air and began slicing through the tenticles as he jumped tree branch to tree branch and leaping across the way to slice through some more.

Jirati snarled in rage as he sent several tenticles chasing after him. They almost hit him too if not for Lee leaping high into the air with a large tree trunk he had smashed to bits and used it to shield his team mate. He had to use the trunk to kick himself away from the tenticles as they ended up wrapping around his shield to avoid getting touched by one of them.

Lee, however, did not see one of the tenticles that chased after him and caught him around ankle. "Argh!" He yelped in pain as the stinging began.

Neji spun quickly around as he caught himself on a high tree branch and jerked his head in Lee's direction, seeing him nearly dangling from the stinging tenticle. "Lee!" He called out before launching himself off the tree to get to his team mate. He drew in a sharp breath as Jirati sent several tenticles flying at him, getting ready to strike him.

Suddenly, a silver flash sliced through the tenticles before they could even hit him and he barely had time to stop himself in mid air before flipping back down to the ground. Neji made a quick glance over his shoulder to see that Tenten had opened another weapons scroll and was now flinging large shruikens after one another. Her hands were moving as fast as she could get them to go, sending her sharp weapons into the tenticles.

As for Lee, he winced as he curled up a little and grabbed a hold of the tenticle wrapped around his ankle. He was feeling the sharp sting now coursing through his entire body, making it very much harder for him to move.

Just then, there was a cat like snarl before Nekomata's flames came flying at Jirati's tenticles, burning through the tenticle that trapped him.

Once the tenticle nearly melted away, Lee found himself falling towards the ground, head first. He was finding it very hard to even be able to twist himself around so that he could land on his feet. He could barely move because of Jirati's sting.

Before he hit the ground, he felt something charging at him and he didn't even have to look over his shoulder as he felt the intensive heat of Nekomata's body as she leaped upward and caught him by the back of his Chunin vest before they landed heavily to the ground. He glanced up to see that the fire cat had caught his vest in between her teeth before he was let down.

"Lee, are you all right?" Nekomata asked quickly before she wrapped one of her tails around his extremely numb leg.

Lee just nodded as he felt the soothing heat starting to trail from the flaming tail into his leg. It felt tingly but pleasant. It almost like a healing factor, working against Jirati's poisonous stings. "I will be fine. Thank you, Nekomata." He told her as he reached down and began rubbing his leg to help it move faster. "I am surprised that you are not burning me with your flames." He admitted.

The fire cat merely smirked at him before turning her glaring blue eyes back onto Jirati, watching as Neji and Tenten were using large shruikens to sever more and more of his tenticles. "I am in full control of my own flames, Rock Lee. I will choose what to burn and what not to burn. As you know, most of the Tailed Bijuu are in control of certain elements of the world. Mine, as you already know, is fire. But..." She narrowed her eyes dangerously as she watched Jirati nearly struck out at Tenten only to have Neji become a spinning blur, using his Shruiken to shield her and himself. "There is one other element that I can control. I have been forbidden to ever use it because it's known as an abomination ability. But seeing that this is becoming very difficult with Jirati's Chakra Tenticles, I think it be best if I did use it. Do not think poorly of me when you see what I do next, Lee."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, finally standing up and watching her carefully.

Nekomata shook her head as she rose it higher without even looking at Lee. "Out of all Nine Tailed Beasts, I am like a living ghost and the only one with necromancer abilities." She didn't even have to see the look on Lee's face to know that he had no idea what that was. She just scruffed up the fiery fur on her neck before she lashed out her tails, sending them striking against the over looking cliff not more than twenty feet away. The tails sliced into the earthy cliff, allowing several clumps drop right into the ocean. "I have the power to manipulate the dead. And seeing that the dead doesn't really have Chakra any more, they are the perfect weapon to deal with this monstrocity that Jirati has become."

Lee's eyes only flashed in surprise as he stared up at her before he heard a low rumble from somewhere near the cliffs. He quickly looked over at the overlook, watching as the ground seemed to vibrate and shake. Something was happening up there. Only he and Nekomata were watching while Neji and Tenten were still quite occupied with fighting Jirati.

They didn't even realize that the fight was starting to bring an shocked audience to the clearing. Both villagers and the renegades had heard the explosions and roars and came running to find out what was going on. But none of them could believe what they were seeing.

A giant fire cat and a giant jelly fish.

But what soon joined them, none of them would ever forget it. No one would ever imagine that what the fire cat just did was even possible until two blurs came leaping off the cliff sides and slamming onto the ground right before them. All the villagers and the renegades could do was gasp and freeze every inch of their bodies.

Hearing something very heavy hitting the ground, Lee spun around, raising a hand and preparing to fight whoever was interferring before he, too, froze in alarm. He couldn't believe his eyes and neither could Gai when he finally managed to catch his breath and sit up to see what was going on. His entire frame froze as he watched a giant of a man stand up, holding a very long and massive looking sword, while a shorter person lashed out his arms, and catching several senbon between his fingers.

Both of them were so ragged and covered in dirt and old mud that it almost caked on them. And it didn't help that they both looked like they were the living dead.

But that was because...they were.

"Well, well, well. Something tells me that we're missing quite the party here." A very gruff and deep voice escaped from the corpse of Zabuza Momochi before he turned his nearly rotted eyes towards the large fire cat that was watching them with a smirk. "I'm taking it that it was you that brought us back. Ain't that right?"

"You are correct, Zabuza Momochi. Forgive me for yanking your spirit out of the Otherworld but I am in need of yours and Haku's help. As you can see, we're in a serious bind." Nekomata clearly stated as she waved her tails behind her, ignoring the shocked looks that were staring at either her or the two undead Mist Ninja. "As soon as you have assisted me and my companions with this monstrocity, I will send your spirit back to where it belongs."

The Dead Zabuza grunted before swinging his giant sword onto his back and holding it there as he eyed the fire cat. "And pray, tell me why we should assist you, Two Tail? I don't see what is in it for us." He growled at her. "As far as I could tell, I'm just going to go back to Hell and enjoy myself tearing the limbs off of that punk ass bastard, Gatou for eternity."

"Hmm. Maybe you are correct, Momochi." Nekomata hissed with amusement before she flickered her eyes over Zabuza and Haku's shoulders, nodding to the audience there. "But take a good look around. Those are the people you tried to hurt and kill and you were killed for it." She watched as Zabuza and Haku both turned and looked at the Villagers, who drew back in fear and alarm. And both of them spotted a rather shocked Tazuna standing in the front with Inari clutching onto his side with his daughter. They could not believe their eyes. "Those are the people that Gatou tried to have you hurt by killing the old man, Tazuna. And it is Gatou's people who are causing them trouble again."

The two undead Mist Ninja turned the other direction and spotted Zori hiding behind a tree, staring at them with very wide and frightened eyes. He also could not believe what he was seeing.

"If you allow them to continue ravaging this Land, you will never rest in peace, Momochi. After all, one very good deed like this might just win you the ticket that you need to go where Haku has been all of this time." Nekomata said, sounding rather smug. She seemed to know exactly what she needed to say to get Zabuza's cooperation.

"Hmm." The undead Zabuza grunted before looked down at Haku, who looked rather horrible with a gaping hole in his chest but he had a rather soft look on his ragged, not so adorable face as he looked back up at his former mentor. "Well, Haku. Your call this time."

The small undead Mist Ninja hummed softly before he snapped into a stance, holding up his fist with senbon sticking out from between his fingers. "Maybe, Zabuza-senpai, we should take the time to do something right. It maybe what we need to atone for what we have done here." He spoke softly.

"Heh. Such a soft heart you've always had, Haku." Undead Zabuza barked with laughter before he swung his giant sword over head and held it tightly in his hands as he shifted him into an endurance stance. "Fine! We'll do it your way this time! Move aside, runts!" He roared before launching himself forward and past Lee and Nekomata. He was quickly followed by

Boy, did Neji and Tenten get the shock of their lives when two very dirty and quite dead looking Ninja raced past them and began slicing through the many tenticles of Jirati. They both almost fell over in shock when they saw the two. "What the...?" The Weapons Specialist gasped as she stared saucer eyed as a nearly skeletonized giant began swinging a huge ass sword and cutting many tenticles without worrying about being touched.

Even Neji had to stare with wide eyes as the shorter Mist Ninja began spinning in swift circles and flinging several senbon at Jirati. He had never seen anything like this before. "What are those?" He found himself ask in alarm.

"They are the undead spirits of Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, Haku. I believe I am fault for their ressurection." Nekomata stated as she and Lee hurried over to stand and watch as the two quite dead Ninja attacked a rather alarmed looking Jirati. Even he was stunned by what he was seeing as many of his Chakra tenticles were getting cut to shreds and lying all around his hovering body. "Jirati was becoming quite the handful and seeing that the dead has no Chakra left, I decided to bring Zabuza and Haku back to the land of the living to deal with him."

Both Neji and Tenten looked wide eyed up at Nekomata, not believing what she had just said. They had had no idea that she had that kind of power. It was almost frightening to imagine that she was able to do something like that. "You did this? But...how?" Neji asked, still very alarmed.

Nekomata looked down into his pearl colored eyes before shaking her head as she sat down on her hind quarters, watching as Zabuza and Haku both cut nearly all of the tenticles off of Jirati and were still working on the others. "I am the Nekomata. A ghost fire cat with the ability of a necromancer. Necromancers are beings with the ability of manipulating the dead. It takes up a lot of my Chakra and I am draining fast by keeping Zabuza and Haku here. It will be very soon before I must fade away back inside of Yugito and rest myself. But as soon as I depart, I will need you to watch over her. She will be very weak and easy to attack. So I must implore you, Neji Hyuuga, do not attack her. I know you have great hate for her and the Hidden Cloud Village. But you must understand something. She was never apart of that village during the time of your father's sacrifice. And yet, she plans to return to the Cloud Village and demand the remains of your father to return them to you and your Clan. If was anyone else but her, she would be killed for it. But she is very close to the Raikage. He will do as she asks and he will return your father's remains to you. Please trust her, and help her as she hides from the Akatsuki. It won't be long before they catch scent of my power. They will chase after her after we are done here. I care much for my kitten host. Please, help us as you have helped Shukaku and are helping Kyuubi. And please, find Haichi and let him know that we are alive. Please protect him and the rest of the Jinchuriki. There are only five of us left." She then hissed as she began to flicker and grow shorter.

"Nekomata!" Lee said worriedly, reaching out and touching her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"

"No, Lee. Just growing weak. The necromancer ability is starting to wear me down. It won't be long now. But I must fight myself to stay strong. If I don't release Zabuza and Haku before I do, they will be cursed to walk this world as the undead until I gain my strength again. I don't want to even think what will happen if I cannot release them."

Everyone turned to watch as Undead Zabuza and Undead Haku were cutting Jirati down even harder than before. They seemed to be sensing the urgency of them finishing up and were cutting the tenticles down faster.

It was not long before Jirati hit the ground, rather bloody and worn out from getting sliced to pieces by the two undead Mist Ninja, who were standing over him. He couldn't even find enough strength to push himself to sitting up. He just laid against the ground, panting and bleeding.

"So, fatboy." Zabuza growled as he stabbed his giant blade into the ground, merely a few feet away from Jirati. "Are you done? Or do you want to go Round 2 with us?"

Jirati panted as he pushed himself to his knees and looked past the blood trailing down the side of his face at the Undead Zabuza before him. He shook his head as he rest his hands onto his lap, still panting hard. "No. I am finished. I will cease my attacks here." He told him.

Sharply nodding, Zabuza and Haku both turned their backs onto Jirati and began walking towards Nekomata, ignoring all of the shocked stares they were getting.

That is until Tenten gasp, as did a lot of the observers and there was a loud thunk smacked against Zabuza's head, not even throwing him off balance. He just growled in high annoyance before turning around, letting everyone else in front of him see the throwing star that was stuck into the back of his head. Quite a few people who couldn't handle sights like that dropped back into faints. "Okay, now that just pissed me off!" The gruff Undead Mist Ninja growled before he swung his giant sword over shoulder and brought it down heavily. "I'm already dead, you idiot!"

Several people flinched as they watched the demise of Jirati. And quite a few people had quickly covered their faces and their children's faces before they could see the such of act of violence against someone who had just been living only a few seconds ago.

Until now.

Still growling, Zabuza yanked his large sword out of the bloody ground before turning and shouldering it as he gave Nekomata a very dark look. "Well? What now, fire cat?" He growled still quite irritated.

Smirking and letting her tails twitch around her feet and Rock Lee, she turned her ears off to the side before tilting it off towards the side where a large group of renegades were still standing with a stunned Zori and Waraji, who had finally woken up in time to see the death of the last Chakra Brother.

Growling, Zabuza turned and took several large steps towards the renegades, along with Haku, who was branishing his senbon needles in his fists. They both gave the large group of criminals dangerous looks as they approached. They even ignored the fact that all of them were cringing away, murmuring fearfully.

"Are you done here, Samurai? Or do you want to continue this conversation?" Zabuza snarled. "Because I am so looking forward to finishing you two bastards off for working with that jackass, Gatou."

Cringing away, Zori shook his head as he grabbed a hold of Waraji. "We are done here, Zabuza Momochi. I think it'd be wise if we ceased our revenge on this city." He simply said.

Narrowing his eyes, Zabuza reached up behind his head and yanked the throwing star out before holding it up for the Samurai to see. He looked almost too dangerous by doing such a thing. "Are you sure? You plan on throwing something at me when I turn my back onto you?" He growled savagely. "Any of you?"

For a long moment, all of the renegades just stared at him and Haku before glancing over at Zori and Waraji to see what their orders were. But, the two had already spun around and began running as fast as they could, yelping as they tried to get out of there fast.

A second later, all two hundred renegades turned and bolted, leaving only a large cloud of dust and leaves as they took off like something was chasing them.

Zabuza grunted before he tossed the throwing star down on the ground and made his way back towards Nekomata and the four Leaf Ninja. He merely glanced at the villagers as they slowly took careful steps into the clearing to get a better look at what just happened. He met the eyes of Tazuna, who hesitated for a moment before finding his courage and walking straight up to him. "Hm. Old Man, it's been a while. Where's Red and Loud mouth? Or that blasted Hatake?" The Undead Mist Ninja grunted.

Tazuna merely shrugged. "Not here. Apparently they were too busy on another mission to come save our village. And apparently, Gaara became Kazekage, Naruto's chasing off after Sasuke, who I guess betrayed his village and became a Rogue Ninja. Kakashi...I don't know about. I believe Master Ninja Gai," He motioned to a still staring wide eyed Gai right next to him. "He has said that he got into a fight with someone called the Akatsuki and got hurt. And apparently, the pretty girl, Sakura, is now in relationship with Gaara. That's about it." He simply explained.

Zabuza snorted before shaking his head. "The Uchiha brat betrayed his village?" He shook his head again as he clipped his sword to his Undead back. "What a dipshit. And I always knew that little Sand brat would do something pretty big. But becoming the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village? Well, that's really something." He looked back at Nekomata and nodding. "Now if you don't mind, let us go back to sleep. But when you do, I'd rather not let anyone do this again. So burn our bodies to ashes." He said, glancing at Haku, who nodded in agreement.

"Very well." Nekomata purred before she closed her eyes and let her two tails flick at Zabuza and Haku.

As soon as she did that, both of them went up into large flames, startling the Leaf Ninja and the villagers. It wasn't even long before the flames went out and the giant sword dropped heavily to the ground with a loud thud. The remaining ashes, however, caught into the wind and drifted off towards the ocean. Almost a wave of peace fell over everyone in the clearing as they watched them fly free as the sea breeze.

"Well that was interesting." Gai said, chuckling.

Nekomata suddenly hissed as she curled up into a ball before she burst into flames and Alea appeared right where the large fire cat had been standing. She was panting as if she had run several miles as fast as she could before she stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Lee was quick to catching her before she hit the ground and was very surprised to see Neji quickly catch her other arm and help him stand Alea back up onto her feet. He had to smile though as he saw genuine concern from his fellow Shinobi for the girl that they were holding up.

"Well," Gai added, still staring at Alea, very astonished as did many of the villagers. He, like them, could not believe what they just saw. He had just watched the Nekomata transform back into its human host, Yugito Nii. "This just got even more interesting.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

It was out of respect for the two undead Mist Ninja did Alea, or Yugito Nii, the Leaf Ninja and the Port City villagers redo the graves for Zabuza Momochi and Haku. They did not have bodies to replace in the graves but they set the sword back up right where it rightfully belonged.

After that, the Leaf Ninja were back in Tazuna's house, listening to Alea, or Yugito Nii, tell them what had truly happened to her. She had finally decided to tell them the truth of who she was and why she was pretending to be someone else. And why she pretended to be suffering amnesia. She had been expecting an outrage from Tazuna and his family, from Inari. She had been expecting them to call her a monster cat and order her to leave their house and never return. To leave Port City and never come back.

But instead, all three family members smiled faintly before they all gathered the astonished girl up into their arms into a warm hug. It had startled her but she allowed them to hug her while she stared at each of them.

"We knew that you had had a hard life, Alea. But we would have never guessed that it was that bad." Tsunami said with tears in her eyes before she pulled away and wiped her cheeks. "I...I never knew that it would have been so terrible like that. I didn't think that you were being hunted down like that. Just because...just because you're different. I always knew that you were different from everyone else but not like that. And it sounds like you've lost everything you've ever had."

Tazuna nodded as he looked at her softly, placing his arms on the table. "We understand why you wanted to hide your identity from us. You were just trying to protect yourself from being found out by those terrible people." He looked directly at Gai, who was smiling along with Lee and Tenten. "And you tried to protect yourself from enemy ninja. If your enemies would have found out who and what you were, I can understand why you would be afraid."

"She won't have to be afraid of us, Tazuna-san." Gai said almost gently. "We may be from different villages that once were great enemies, but because of the Akatsuki, we share a greater enemy. This makes us allies with you, Alea. And if you let us, we will protect you."

Both Lee and Tenten nodded. Neji was silent and carefully staring at the girl sitting between Tazuna and Inari. He wasn't sure what to think. He hated the Cloud Ninja greatly. But with this new situation..."You should probably come with us, Alea." He finally spoke up, surprising everyone, even her. "With that battle we just had with Jirati, it's going to attract the Akatsuki's attention. They will come here, looking for you. And if they find you still here, they will stop at nothing to catching you."

There was a long pause as everyone listened to his words before Inari stood up quickly, his eyes starting to tear up. "We can protect her! We will protect her!" He suddenly burst out, looking at Alea, or Yugito Nii. "I won't let these jerks hurt you, Alea!"

With a soft sigh, the Two Tailed Jinchuriki shook her head as she softly placed her hand onto Inari's head. She knew he would do anything to protect her. But she also knew that if the Akatsuki came to the Port City, finding her there, they would destroy it and its people to capture her. She couldn't allow that to happen. She had to do everything to protect these wonderful people from getting hurt by her enemies. She could not let them get pulled into a travesty like that. "Thank you, Inari. But Neji is right. I can't stay. Now that I've used Nekomata's power, the Akatsuki will come looking for me. And if they find me here, they will destroy all of you." She quickly wiped a tear from Inari's face as he started crying for her. "I have to protect you by leaving. Don't cry, Inari. I promise. I will be okay." She looked right at Gai. "I should be. If I'm with strong Shinobi like them, I think I will have a chance of surviving. Besides, I've always wanted to meet other Jinchuriki besides Bee and myself. And if I meet them, Gaara and Naruto, maybe we can join together and go find Killer Bee. I have to know that he's safe, along with my village." She said, before her face darkened with the seriousness of her thoughts. "And together, we will take down the Akatsuki for what they've done. Will you let me come with you?"

Team Gai merely glanced at one another before they all smiled, even Neji as they dipped their heads into nods. "You will be safe with us, Alea. We will take you to Naruto and Gaara." Lee said, gently.

Yugito shook her head as she smiled softly at him and stood up, moving around the table towards him and his three team mates. She then pressed her hands together and bowed respectfully to them. "Please, from now on, call me Yugito Nii. Alea was my name here. And here I will keep that name for the safety of the people. But I can't hide any more. I have to be who I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Leaf Shinobi." She said pleasantly.

And in return, the four Leaf Ninja bowed their heads right back to her.

"The pleasure is all ours, Yugito Nii." Tenten simply stated before smiling at her and offering her hand. "Welcome to Team Gai."

Smiling, Yugito Nii nodded before wrapping her hand around Tenten's wrist, sharing the same hand shake she had offered. She felt so happy that she was actually making more friends. And even better, they were exactly her age.

"We must probably return to the Leaf Village immediately and find out what's going on. And we should probably alert the Lady Hokage about Yugito." Gai simply said before looking back at Tazuna. "If you have any more problems with the renegades and the Samurai, you know who to call for. We will be back to settle it with them for good."

Tazuna barked a laugh as he slapped his thigh and nodded over to Yugito who was smiling, along with his daughter and grandson. "Please, Master Ninja. I don't think those gaki will be coming back any time soon. After watching Zabuza Momochi and his student, Haku return from the dead, even for a short time, I think they might be smarter than coming back here. They won't want to deal with a pair of undead Ninja like that again. Even if it was Alea and her cat who had brought them back or not. We owe her a lot for scaring them away. And we owe you for helping her. We thank you, Leaf Ninja, greatly, for what you have done for our village." He told him.

Everyone just nodded before Lee's eyes lit up brightly and he shook his head as he threw a hand into the air. "Wait! We cannot leave yet! There is still one thing I must do before we can!" He said brightly.

Everyone frowned at him with confusion but Yugito's eyes sparked up as if she realized what he was talking about and she had to smile and shake her head. "You just never give up, do you?" She asked, earning a grin from Rock Lee.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls of all ages!" The Announcer boomed into the microphone brightly, catching everyone's attention the bridge and bringing them over to the stage. It was the very next day and quite the day too. Everyone was on the bridge, looking up at the tight rope stage as their very own Alea stood on the post for the very last time. She was smiling brightly as she looked around the crowd. "I have an announcement to make! Please direct your eyes and ears towards me! We have quite the show for you! This will be the very last time to see our very own Tight Rope Champion perform the Tight Rope Challenge!" He nodded, looking saddened as people began to murmur. "Yes, yes. I know, I know my friends! I shall very much miss our beautiful Alea but she has told me that she is going on an adventure to train! She has told me that she will return when she has found even better inspirations for her performances! And when that time comes, she will have the greatest show for us! Please, my friends, let us express our gratitude for her wonderful performances! Put your hands together and let her know how much we adore her!"

A blast of cheers and applause as everyone on the bridge began show their gratitude for their Alea. People all over the bridge screamed and cheered Alea's name, making her smile saddly but happily at the same time. It made her feel even better to know of how much these people cared for her even though more than half of them had seen what she had become the day before.

And yet, they still seemed to love and care for her. She felt grateful for them.

Glancing down at the announcer, who looked back at her and bowed his head respectfully to her, Yugito Nii reached into her belt and pulled out her own microphone before turning it on. She smiled around at the crowd as they died down, waiting for her words. "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I have a special treat for you! My greatest performance yet! We shall start with the Tight Rope Challenge! Who will take the Challenge and win a kiss from me?" She called into the crowd.

For a moment, it went dead silent as people began looking at one another and their neighbors. As much as most of the men in the crowd wanted that kiss from Alea, they didn't dare to try and walk the line. A few murmurs and chuckles began to break out as some teased one another, telling their friends to go for it. But no one stepped forward until...

"I will take the challenge!"

Many people spun around to look to the very back only to have many people start laughing when they recognized the Leaf Ninja, Rock Lee from the first day. Some even shook their heads and started laughing at jokes as they made about the Leaf Ninja with thick eyebrows.

But unlike them, Yugito just smiled brightly and waved over to Lee, who put his bag down and hurried through the crowd, running up the other pole till he reached the top. "All right, Leaf Ninja! Let's see if you can do it! Let's see if you can win my kiss." She said, winking at him. "Now, everyone, will you please hush and watch as our new Tight Rope Champion walks the line!"

As she had requested, everyone went quiet to watch. Some were expecting the Leaf Ninja to make a complete fool out of himself like he had before. Some snickered but they all hushed to watch.

For a very long moment, Lee just stood there, taking a deep breath as he gathered his nerves. He even closed his eyes as if finding the peace he needed to do this. He took several breaths before opening his eyes and looking straight at Yugito, who smiled back at him and gave him a nod.

Grinning, Lee nodded right back before he bent over and flipped onto his hands on the pole, surprising quite a lot of people. He ignored the surprised murmurs as he carefully began walking out on the line on his hands, with his feet straight up into the air as he slowly began to move out on the rope. He started sweating as he got about five feet, swaying a little on the line and making everyone shut up again and hold their breaths. He could only grit his teeth, keeping a grin on his face as he crawled across the rope. He made it to the middle of the rope and people were still holding their breaths with wide eyes.

He was finally five feet away from where Alea was standing, still with a smile on her face as she watched him with a hand on her waist.

And finally, he reached the post, where toppled over to the side, making many gasp loudly. But instead of falling, Lee swung around the rope before flipping over to the post and grabbing a hold of it as he held tightly onto the line, looking up at Yugito, his feet pressed against the post.

Smiling, Yugito shook her her head before swooped down into a crouch. "You just never give up, do you, Lee?" She asked before she reached down and pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush.

The crowd exploded with cheers and applause while some laughed loudly that 'Alea' had to kiss a complete weirdo. But all the pretty young girl did was merely glance at them before she smirked at Lee, who grinned back. "Ready to give them that extra performance, Rock Lee?" She asked.

"Ready when you are, Yugito!" Lee said brightly before he kicked off the post and flipped upward while Yugito quickly stood up and began to cartwheel along the rope, making the crowd begin to cheer loudly as they watched her. They watched her as she landed on one hand on the other post and sat there, smirking to where Lee was now standing on one foot, holding his balance very well.

What surprised most of the audience was when Japanese drums began to play, along with a flute, turning into quite the interesting tune for their performance.

Still smiling on her post, Yugito quickly flipped backwards back onto the rope, onto her feet and began twirl carefully in circles on the rope before she lashed out her hands and fire exploded from her palms, surprising the crowd. She smiled brightly as she began twirling her arms all around her, almost dancing on the rope.

"Leaf Hurricane." Lee said softly to himself before leaping high into the air and began spinning rapidly across the rope above Yugito who let the flames grow higher until they were nearly spinning all around the Leaf Ninja.

People on the bridge, oowed and awed as they watched the spinning Leaf Ninja be engulfed in flames until smoke exploded from within and the flames shot off into just sparks and he came spinning out of the smoke and landed heavily on his feet on the ground right before the crowd. He wore a big grin on his face as he tilted his head upward and looked up to see Yugito now spinning rapidly around on the rope before she let go and did the very same thing as he did, falling towards him. They both ignored the gasps of alarm as they watched Yugito drop.

Before she hit the ground, Lee threw out one hand and Yugito landed right on his palm, standing with one foot high above her head and one hand thrown out to the side, smiling bright.

The crowd exploded again as they applauded as Lee carefully let Yugito jump down from his hand and they grabbed each other's hands, holding them as they smiled at one another. Together, they threw their hands up into the air and then bowed to the audience, earning another loud wave of cheers and applause. Together, they stood back up and smiled to the back of the crowd where the rest of Team Gai were standing with Tazuna and his family, smiling and shaking their heads.

"Well, that was the most exciting show I've ever seen you do, Alea!" Tazuna said brightly as he walked with the Leaf Ninja and Yugito towards the end of the bridge. "Can't wait till you come back with some more material. Everyone will be looking forward to it."

Yugito just smiled as she shouldered the travel pack that Tsunami had given her. She had packed some new clothes for herself as well as anything that she might need while on the road with Team Gai. "I will come back, I promise. And next time, I'll bring them, Naruto, Gaara, and their friends and I'll even bring Killer Bee with me. You will love him. He's crazy but great." She told them.

"We can't wait. You just take care of yourself, Alea." Tsunami said before she pulled the young girl into another hug and then stepped back.

Inari rushed forward and hugged her tightly around the waist before doing the same. "Alea, I'll keep practicing! Someday, I will be a Ninja, just like you and Rock Lee and Neji! And Tenten and Gaara and Naruto! I promise!" He said brightly.

Yugito just smiled brightly as she reached over and ruffled his black hair before looking at Tazuna and gave him a hug next. She held him the longest though before pulling back. "Thank you, Grandpa Tazuna. For everything you've done for me. I will never forget it. And I promise, I'll make sure that the Akatsuki don't ever come here and bother you and Port City. I'll make it safe for all of you." She swore to him.

Tazuna merely nodded as he lightly patted her on the head before stepping back with his family. "Just be safe, Alea. And take care of yourself, Naruto and Gaara." He looked right over to Lee standing next to her. "Protect her, Rock Lee. I'm counting on you." He told him.

"I give you my word!" Lee said grinning as he gave him a thumbs up.

And then they gave their final good byes before the four Leaf Ninja and the Cloud Ninja turned and walked down the path that lead towards the Fire Country.

Of course, no one saw the head sticking out of a tree, frowning as serious as death could be. It was a wonder why no one noticed the black and white face peering after the five Ninja, leaving the Port City. "Target found."

"Leader, we've got a little bit of a problem." Zetsu hissed as he narrowed his golden eyes after the retreating Ninja.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

For nearly two days the two brothers traveled through the forests of the Fire Country and until they arrived at the border lines of Otogakure. It was there did Gaara and Kankuro stopped to take a breather while they waited for Shukaku to figure out where the hell the Three Tail was hiding. They had decided to make up the camp for the night while they came up with a plan of what they would do when they did find the kid, Yukimaru.

And for a long time, Gaara stared off into the slowly darkening sky, thinking about what plan of action they should follow. He, of course, confided in Shukaku to learn more about the Three Tail, which the Tanuki explained to him to be called Sanbi. And he happened to be a huge sea turtle from the Land of Water.

'Sanbi is the only one that the First Hokage couldn't control and he was the only one who managed to escape from the clutches of any Shinobi Village.' Shukaku explained to his Jinchuriki host. 'He's not very easy to work with, to be honest. I haven't seen or heard from him for ages now so I don't know how strong he's become. But I know this, he's been in the wild for a very long time now. So it's more than likely he doesn't have a Jinchuriki Host any more or he has taken complete control of his host and whoever he's been living in is lost in his own thoughts.'

Gaara frowned as he thought about that. He didn't think he liked the idea of having to face the Three Tail, itself without talking to his Jinchuriki first. The one question he had to wonder was who was this Yukimaru person? What connection did he have with the Three Tails, Sanbi?

"Gaara," Kankuro yawned out as he leaned against his puppet scrolls and tried to get comfortable. "What are we going to do with the Yukimaru kid?"

The young Kazekage merely glanced at him and shook his head as he folded his hands together and leaned against his knees. "I don't know, Kankuro. As I have told you from Shukaku, the Three Tails, Sanbi, may be very difficult talking to. Being in the wild, away from civilization so long may have done something to him. Him and his Jinchuriki. I am hoping that Yukimaru will have some answers for us about Sanbi."

Kankuro snorted as he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against the scrolls. "Heh. And let's hope he's not obsessed with working with old Snake-face. It'll be a problem if he's working with Orochimaru on his own free will." He announced.

Gaara only had to nod. 'Shukaku, where exactly is the Three Tails hiding?' He thought to his demon.

There was a pause as Gaara felt Shukaku actually sent out some of his power, trying to search for the Three Tails' location. 'It's going to be very hard, Gaara. Like I said, Sanbi isn't easy to work with. He's not even easy to find. Especially if he's under water. I'm picking some of his scent. He should only be a day away now, but his scent is very faint. So I'm guessing he's hiding in some river or lake or on the other side of the Country, in the Gulf. It's going to be difficult tracking him but we should find him by tomorrow.'

"Good." Gaara muttered before looking over at his already dozing brother. His lips quirked up only a little before he shook his head and looked back up into the sky.

'Heeeey. That's weird.'

Gaara turned his head, frowning as if he was looking at Shukaku within his head. He wondered exactly what Shukaku was getting a little antsy about. 'What? What is it?' He asked the Tanuki.

'I don't know. I just felt a distant power boost. It feels like there's another Bijuu somewhere.' Shukaku muttered before spreading out some of his Chakra, trying to catch the scent. 'It's way too far away but it feels like that damn Two Tailed Cat. Heh, heh. Looks like another one got away from the Akatsuki. I always thought Nekomata got caught. But I sure feel her somewhere.'

Of course, Gaara's attention was wide open now. He was getting more interested by the minute. 'The Two Tailed Cat? Can you figure out where it's at?' He asked his demon.

He felt Shukaku shaking his head within his head. 'Nope. She's too far away. The only reason why I felt her boost is because she's probably fighting someone. It might be the Akatsuki, but it doesn't feel like she's using all of her power. So it might be that someone annoyed the hell out of her. Still, that might attract attention and if she's smart, which we all know that cats are not, she'll knock it off before the Akatsuki gets wind of her.'

'Shukaku,' Gaara asked the One Tail with a deep but curious frown. Now he was getting very intrigued. 'Tell me about all of the Legendary Nine Tailed Beasts. I already know about you and the Nine Tails, Kyuubi. But, what about the others? What are they and how strong are they?'

So throughout the entire night, Shukaku told Gaara everything about the other Tailed Beasts. He told them that each of them were different varieties of their own. They were different species of beasts and they possessed their own variety of abilities. He explained to Gaara which Tailed Beast was which.

The Fourth Tail had been a giant Ape.

The Fifth had been a Horse with the face of a dolphin.

The Sixth had been some kind of slug with extreme power over ice and glass

The Seventh had been some kind of insect, mostly presenting a beetle mixed with a dragonfly.

As for the last, the Eight Tail who Shukaku did not get along with at all along with the Nine Tailed Fox, it had been some kind of ushi-oni. A demonic ox with the many arms of an octopus.

Of course, when Shukaku even mentioned the Two Tailed Cat, Nekomata, Gaara could have sworn that the Tanuki was sounding a little too pleased to talk about her. It sounded like he might have admired her and it made him wonder. He learned from the One Tail that Nekomata had control over fire and additional control over the dead. He didn't like the sound of that at all. But, according to Shukaku, she would be a very powerful ally.

And according to Shukaku, all of them were full of power that could wipe out the entire Shinobi Nations if they worked together. That was probably what the Akatsuki was up to. With the Nine most powerful beings in the entire world in their hands, the mysterious members of the Akatsuki could destroy everything that the Shinobi Nations stood for. It was something that scared Gaara plenty. And being that there seemed to be three, or at least four Bijuu that still lived and free from the Akatsuki, Gaara really saw no reason but to locate all of the remaining Bijuu and getting them together. If there were any more, he would need to get a hold of them as well and stop at nothing but to protect them.

By the next morning, Gaara and Kankuro were ready to move on. The young Kazekage even explained to his older brother what he and Shukaku had been talking about all night; just to fill him in. Kankuro did not like the sound of the Two Tailed Cat at all but he figured that it would be in their best interest to find her after they finished with the Three Tail.

The travel over the border of Fire and what looked like the Land of Swamps didn't take too long. It was truth be told that Gaara and Kankuro didn't know anything about this land. It wasn't exactly aligned with the Five Great Shinobi Countries, more like a little isolated between the Land of Earth and the Land of Sound.

How they knew it was the Land of Swamps because it was full of marshy swamps.

Still, there wasn't much Gaara and Kankuro knew about these lands and they knew they needed to tread carefully. They did not want to run into any trouble whatsoever and have things become complicated. Especially when it was Gaara being the Kazekage. He knew that he couldn't do much in these lands without complications arising. So he would have to be very careful while dealing with situations in this land.

So far, they hadn't seen any people or run into any trouble or anything.

"How long do you think it's going to be now, Gaara?" Kankuro grumbled beside his younger brother. He was getting tired and irritated by stepping into swampy mud and it kind of smelled.

Gaara didn't like it any more than him. He didn't like getting wet and he especially hated all of the mud all around them. The smell was the worst. It was murky, smelled like strange and it was bugging Shukaku, even though it was him who was leading him and Kankuro in the first place. "Shukaku says we should arrive to the Third Tails' whereabouts very soon. Within two hours or so." He explained to the Puppet Master.

Kankuro only growled a sigh as he kept up the pace, grimacing as his foot nearly sank in some of the swampy path. "I don't know about you, bro. But I can't wait till we get out of this place. This mud is going to be a serious problem." he grumbled.

Gaara only silently agreed.

What came as a surprise to the brothers was after a little while of traveling, they found a small onsen along the road they had been on. It was the only place they had seen so far and the clouds were starting to darken so they decided to stop for a while just in case it was going to rain. The minute Gaara and Kankuro entered, however, they were noticed immediately. There were not very many people in the lobby but there were a few. Most of them were dressed in robes, as if they were arranging time in one of the hot springs and some were the faculty of the onsen.

Still, quite a few eyes flickered over to the two as soon as they entered and most of them stopped what they were doing. It was no doubt they recognized the two as Shinobi. There didn't even seem to be any Shinobi there, themselves. So Gaara and Kankuro might have been the only ones in the facility.

A woman dressed in a rosy red kimono with gold and silver sparrows sprang to action and moved to where the brothers were standing. She was a pretty woman with rich black hair tied up in a bun on top of her head. She was rather young, almost the same age as Gaara might have been. She was, however, frowning as she looked the two over before her eyes stopped on the mud of their feet.

Gaara, instantly, realized that she was frowning at the mud they had managed to track into the lobby. He quickly glanced down before grabbing Kankuro's arm and making him step back outside. "I am sorry for the mess we just made. I can compensate if you need." He said in his low and raspy voice.

The girl blinked a few times before she met his eyes of sea-foam with her sparkling blue ones before she shook her head quickly and waved a hand at him. "Oh, no! No, it's all right. It's just mud and easy to clean up. I'm sorry if I offended you. I was just observing your very persons. You must have come through the marsh path, which is why your shoes are caked in mud." She grimaced with a smile before pressing her hands together and bowing at the waist. "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

"No. It's quite all right. You did not offend us." Gaara quickly said with a hand raised.

"Oh, no you didn't offend us at all." Kankuro said grinning as he looked the girl over, appreciatively.

The young girl frowned at him, raising an eyebrow before her mouth quirked up into an amused smile and she folded her arms across her stomach, shifting her weight. "Watch it, big guy. I'm on duty." She said, in dry humor before she smiled more openly and looked between the brothers. She ignored the fact that Kankuro started chuckling. "Welcome to the Humble Marsh Onsen. I am Sen. How may I help you in any way?" She asked more politely.

Gaara did not return the smile but looked softly at her as he straightened up. "We're just travelers looking for a little shelter and maybe some food." He told her.

The young girl, Sen nodded before she motioning to a small fountain just a few feet away from where they had been standing. It was a simple little fountain with running water spilling out of a drain and then running out through a pipe in the wall. "I'll show you to a dining area. But first, if you don't mind. Wash your feet in the fountain. We're actually a little used to travelers coming in with muddy shoes." She told them.

Both brothers nodded and went over to the fountain, stepping into it where a small current in the fountain did all of the rest. Gaara, however, caught a glimpse of the girl's face, noting that she was glancing at them, looking very cautious. He didn't have much of a choice but look back at her.

"Something wrong?" He asked quietly.

Sen blinked for a moment before meeting his eyes. She had actually caught a glimpse of Gaara's and Kankuro's headbands, though it wasn't even very hard with Kankuro's being around his head. "So you are Sand Shinobi. That's actually the real reason I was caught off guard earlier and stared at you. We don't get very many Shinobi passing through here. I'm curious to know what brings you all the way out here?" She asked them.

Gaara and Kankuro merely glanced at one another before they shook their heads at the young hostess. "We're just passing through. We're looking for someone actually." The Puppet Master was the one to reply.

Again, Sen blinked as she paused in her footsteps before continuing towards a room, sliding a door open to a small dining area. "Hmm. Who is it you're looking for? Maybe I know this person. I have been working here for some time. So maybe I can help you?" She offered with a light smile.

With a slight frown, Gaara shook his head. "Thank you for your help but it's quite all right. We can probably find this person on our own." He told her.

Sen frowned right back before looking at him with a rather guarded look. She looked as if she was going to ask something but then decided against it. Instead, she smiled and motioned them inside. "Very well. Can't say I tried. Please, make yourselves at home. I will bring you some tea. Any preferences?" She asked.

Both brothers shook their heads as they stepped into the room and moved towards a small table in the center of the room where they would dine. "Thank you. Just bring us anything. Maybe some green tea." Gaara stated before un-shouldering his sand gourde and setting it off to the side.

Sen merely nodded before she bowed herself out of the room, sliding the door shut with a small click.

For a moment, Gaara and Kankuro just stood there, staring at the door before they went over and sat down on the soft cushions around the table. They didn't say anything but stared at the door. "What do you think, Gaara?"

Gaara shook his head as he tore his eyes away from the door and looked at his older brother with a frown. "The girl or who we're looking for?" He asked, carefully. He was getting the impression that the girl, Sen was still rather close by, probably trying to eavesdrop on them. He could sense her near the door.

"Both." Kankuro admitted. "The girl's hot. I think I like her."

The young Kazekage shook his head again as he glanced at the door with a deeper frown, feeling her moving away finally. "She's hiding something. I think we better be very careful around her. She may be one of Orochimaru's underlings. Or the Akatsuki's. She seems to know who we are. So she may try to attempt to warn Orochimaru or the Akatsuki." He said quietly.

Kankuro merely nodded before setting his scrolls down beside him and folding his hands together. "And the kid we're looking for?" He asked under his breath.

"We still don't even know who he is or where he is." Gaara answered. "I think we should merely suggest to the girl, Sen that we're looking for him. If there's any reaction at all, then we should make our move. We won't harm her but if she has any information we may need, we'll need to seek it out."

It was not long before their hostess returned with a steamy pot of water and some tea bags on a large tray. There was another hostess, a little older, right behind her. She was carrying a tray full of pork buns, smoked carp, sushi, and ramen.

Together they carried the trays to the table and set it down in the middle.

From only a glance, Gaara caught sight of Kankuro eyeing the girl, Sen and rolled his eyes at the very thought that his brother was interested in the girl, Sen. He didn't feel the need to trust her. There was something she was hiding and he didn't like it. So to think that his brother might have liked her, it was a little discontenting.

"There you go." Sen said still smiling at them as she poured their hot water into two tea cups. She glanced at the other woman, who met her glance before she bowed to Gaara and Kankuro and then left, leaving the two young Shinobi with their hostess. Sen turned back to the two, still smiling as she reached into her kimono sleeve, ignoring the fact that Gaara tensed but he relaxed when he saw a small wooden flute in her hand. "Gentlemen, would you like some entertainment? I can take requests if you would like." She simply said.

"Yes..." Kankuro was saying with a grin as he spared her a wink.

"No." Gaara cut him off, giving the Puppet Master a look before frowning sternly at Sen. "Thank you for the offer but we would like to be left alone until we need something. So please leave until further notice."

Sen's smile faded for only a moment before it came back onto her face as she tucked the flute away again. She did not look offended at all as she bowed to the two before moving towards the door. She paused long enough to motion to a cord hanging near the door. "Very well. If you need anything, just pull that cord. I come immediately to help you with your needs." She told them before she left the room and closed the door behind her.

For a very long moment, Gaara merely stared hard at the door, keeping his senses locked on her presence. He did not want her to be eavesdropping at all. But once he felt her gone, he looked back at Kankuro, who was already enjoying some of the pork buns and drinking his tea. The young Kazekage merely grimaced seeing his brother stuffing his face before he dipped his tea bag into the hot water and waited for it to finish.

"You know, Gaara." Kankuro said, with a slightly full mouth before he swallowed. "You've might have learned a few social skills with Naruto and Sakura but you still have a ways to go. Sen's just a hostess. So why you so tense around her?"

Gaara made a face at his brother before stirring his tea with a spoon. "I don't trust her. Like I said, she's hiding something and I tend to find out what it is. You should be more careful, Kankuro, of who you choose to like."

Kankuro grinned as he swallowed another pork bun before downing it with the rest of his tea. He was already beginning to grab the hot kettle and pouring him some more. "Oh, come on, bro! Give me some credit! She's hot and I haven't even asked her out yet. At least that's some self restraint, right?" He asked before grabbing another pork bun and taking a bite out of it. "Man, Gaara! You've got to try some of these. They're so...so...whoa." Kankuro said as he got wide eyes and started swaying.

Immediately, Gaara was alert. He had been picking up his tea to take a drink but had stopped when Shukaku starting growling within his head. He had learned a long time go that when his demon started growling, it was best to listen to him and stop doing whatever it was that he was doing. "Kankuro?" He asked, very concerned as he watched his brother.

The Puppeteer shook his head as he raised an unsteady hand and pressed it against his head, still swaying. "Whoa...totally vertigo, Bro. I'm seeing two of you." He groaned before he fell over side wards, his arm accidentally knocking some of the food off the table and spilled the hot water all over.

"Kankuro!" Gaara rasped before dropping his own tea cup and diving around the table to check on him. He frowned as he moved close, beginning to examine him. So far, Kankuro's vitals were a little normal. He just seemed to have fallen asleep. With a deeper frown, Gaara grabbed Kankuro's cup and sniffed it for anything unseal. He couldn't smell anything, himself. But for a demon..."Shukaku?" He asked quietly glancing to the side for the demon.

'It smells like poison. Not the fatal kind.' Shukaku growled, a sandstorm starting to swirl within Gaara. 'Sleep poison. Seems to me that someone wants you to be asleep. And you know very well what would have happened if you took a drink of your tea. You'd be out like a light and I would have taken over. We might have a better understanding, kid, but it's still in my right. I wouldn't have hurt anyone, cause you don't want me to. But I would have gotten a hold of whoever was responsible.'

Gaara merely nodded as he narrowed his eyes dangerously. He didn't like this at all. Someone had just attempted to poison him, and succeeded with Kankuro. He couldn't tell how dangerous it would be but his brother seemed fine. But still, someone was after them. It was time to find out why their hostess, Sen had just tried to knock them out.

Oh, yes. Gaara of the Sand and Fifth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village was not a very happy person. And that tend to be a very dangerous situation for the girl, Sen.


	21. Chapter Twenty

It was almost an hour later before the door was carefully and quietly being pushed open and the soft footsteps came creeping in. It had been long since it had gotten dark outside and it was dark in the dining area where Gaara and Kankuro had been in. A pair of dark eyes glanced over the room and stopped on the two laying across the table, looking out like the lights were. Both of the two Sand Shinobi were out.

A breath of relief was released from the young hostess before she carefully moved across the room towards the two sleeping Shinobi. She looked them over for a moment before bending down beside Kankuro and checking his vitals.

Satisfied she nodded as she carefully pulled him off the table and lowered him to the ground gently, as if trying to make him more comfortable. She made a soft sound as if she was smiling too loudly. "Sorry." She whispered so quietly that she almost didn't say it. "You're cute but I still have to finish my mission." Then she stood and made her way around the table over to Gaara. She bent over him to do the same as she had to Kankuro, though not checking his vitals. She just believed that he slept just like the older one.

But as soon as she lightly touched Gaara, the trap was sprung.

Sand flew at her, swarming around her before she could even have the chance to cry out. She could only gasp as the sand wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her body as more sand clamped around her lower jaw, pushing it up so tightly so that she couldn't yell out. Her eyes grew very wide as she saw the intimidating figure of the pale Shinobi push himself up and turn to glare at her. She couldn't move or speak at all. She was completely immobilized.

"Even if I had eaten or drank something, your poison doesn't work on me." Gaara spoke coldly as he stood up and loomed over Sen, who was staring up at him with wide eyes. "Now, you are going to tell me what you did to Kankuro or I will..."

Suddenly, Gaara's head jerked around and he used his sand to yank Sen behind him as two people, a man and a woman, came bounding into the room. The man was dressed as a chef and the woman looked very much like a Shinobi but it was obvious that they were associated with Sen. They had taken one look around the room before snapping into stances when they saw the young girl's capture. They even almost jumped forward to attack Gaara if not for the sand tightening around Sen, making her whimper in slight pain. The woman had been the one to grab the man's arm, keeping him from moving any closer.

"Let her go, scum!" snarled the man. He was quite a large man, built the same as Jiraiya. While dressed as a chef, he was no doubt a Shinobi because of how grace took his very person. He had dark brown, almost black hair cut short, yet their was a long small braid hanging down from behind his ear. His eyes were very dark, but nearly alit of a furious flame because he could not move to defend his young companion. In his hand, he held a curved scimitar, sharp and ready to taste the flesh of its enemies. With only a brief movement, the blade seemed to whistle or hum in the air.

The woman, whoever, was very much smaller than the man. She barely even reached his shoulders but she was still rather tall. She could have been the same height as Gaara, though. She was quite pretty with light brown hair pulled up tightly in a pony tail, falling only to her shoulder blades. Her deep brown eyes were full of concern as she eyed the captured Sen but merely glanced back to Gaara, almost full of curiosity. She, however, had a pair of rectangular tattoos on each cheek; both lavender in color. She was wearing a lavender top with a black net shirt under it and black pants cutting off below her knees. Sitting innocently, yet deceivingly on her back was a short blade katana, not even pulled for battle.

"Chiro," The woman spoke calmly as she glanced at him. "Don't provoke him. He's won this match." She turned back to Gaara, raising her hands. "Please, do not hurt Sen. It's my fault that she poisoned you. I told her to give you the sleeping potion. We were only looking for information about who you were and why you were here."

Gaara merely narrowed his eyes at her but did not release Sen. He glanced over at Kankuro before looking back at her. "What have you done to him?" He asked, in a deadly tone.

The man growled at him but didn't say anything because the woman placed a small, soft hand onto his shoulder, shushing him. She looked back at Gaara, meeting his stormy sea-foam eyes with her own. "It's just a sleeping potion. It will not hurt him. He should wake up in the morning. The only thing he will suffer from is a headache." She explained.

"Who are you and why have you attacked us?" Gaara encountered with another question.

"You first, boy!" The man growled, waving his deadly sword in his hand.

The young Kazekage narrowed his eyes at him but gave his head a shake. He wasn't going to play this game right now. There was too much at stake. "I asked you first. If you choose not to answer, I can't say that you will like the results." He said in a deadly tone.

The man growled again but kept his mouth shut as the woman jabbed him in the side with her elbow. They shared a dark look at one another but then the woman turned back to Gaara. "Please, release Sen first. We won't say anything until she's safe. I promise, we won't attack you again. It seems that it would futile to do so. You maybe young but your techniques of Sand seems to outmatch us in speed." She told him.

For a moment, Gaara didn't move to do anything but eye her darkly. He didn't trust her but he didn't sense deception in her words. So he twisted his hand and the sand released Sen, allowing her to hurry over to the two older Shinobi. He watched as they looked her over, looking for any injuries. "Now, answer. Who are you? Why have you attempted to put myself and my brother asleep?" He demanded.

The three Shinobi looked at one another, not saying anything for a moment before the youngest slowly nodded as she turned around. "My name is Sen Zangetsu. These are my companions, Rin Hayashi and Chiro Nagataka. Our village is secret and not known by the Five Great Shinobi Villages but it carries two different names. Kagegakure or Shadoai Village, the Village Hidden in the Shadows." She told Gaara. "We are called Shadoai, Shadow Ninja. We're on a covert mission, searching for a certain Shinobi that has done our village wrong. We only gave you the sleeping potion to find out information about you. And you are?"

Gaara didn't speak for a moment but study the three, who had finally relaxed. The man had even put away his scimitar to show that he was not threatening him again. He probably shouldn't answer them. Especially if they were working with Orochimaru. But...might as well. "Gaara. He's my older brother, Kankuro." He said, nodding towards his slumbering lump of a brother, who just barely began to snore. He merely grimaced before shaking his head as he looked back at the three, who were somewhat smiling and laughing as they eyed Kankuro. They obviously found his snoring funny. "Answer this. You are not associated with the Legendary Sanin, Lord Orochimaru, are you?" He asked, carefully.

A flash of familiarity took over each of the Shadoai's eyes before they grimaced and looked almost disgusted. "Oh, hell no. Don't you be insulting us by thinking we're associated with that SOB." Chiro growled, his no doubt powerful arms folding across his wide chest. "He doesn't have a clue about our village, or at least he's never bothered us. But we'd rather keep him out of our mountains. If that mutilating scumbag steps foot in our Village, I can guarantee you, he won't be welcomed."

For the first time while meeting them, Gaara snorted and smirked at them. He was now finding them very interesting. And he could sense truth on Chiro's words. There was a lot of dislike for the Snake Sanin in their eyes and even in their words. He eventually nodded for them to come closer. "Sit down. I have a feeling that this will take a while." He told them.

So they all did.

"As Chiro said, we don't associate with Orochimaru. But we only know him by reputation." Rin began the explanation. "We are actually looking for a Shinobi who had murdered our Shadokage three years ago. His name is Caligo Zangetsu and he is Sen's uncle. He murdered his own brother, so their Kage was Sen's father. By rights, she is now the Shadokage."

Gaara frowned, eyeing her carefully. He glanced back at Sen, who merely smiled and shook her head. "How?" He asked.

"You see, Kagegakure, or Shadoai Village does not choose our leaders like all of the other Shinobi Villages do. It is a birth right. And a choice by our Founder, the Great Okami." Sen began, playing with her fingers. "You see, many, many years ago, much before our time, our village was built up by a band of settlers, who were looking for a place to call their home. They found a vast valley between Earth and Sand Countries. It is well hidden by high mountains where it is hard for the sun to reach. That was what became the Shadow Valley. It is well hidden by diamond mines within the mountains. So our village is well endowed and we try to keep our mines hidden from others."

Rin nodded as she shared a glance with Sen before looking at Gaara. "Anyway, at the time that Kagegakure was built, a war began between the settlers for leadership. No one could decide who should lead the new village. There was many deaths." She said with a sigh but a light smile stayed on her face. "It was a terrible war. But it only ended when the people of Shadoai Village heard the thousand cries of demon spirits. The thousand cries belonged to a powerful but great hearted demon spirit named Okami. He is a Great White Wolf spirit who lived within the mountains. It was his valley the Shadoai decided to reside. And it was his decision about letting them live there."

Gaara frowned as he listened but he understood it. He had to glance off to the side when he heard Shukaku grunt within his head. 'Shukaku?' He asked the Sand Tanuki.

'She's telling the truth. We, Bijuu, know of Okami. He's not a Tailed Beast but he's nearly as strong as we are. There are spirit demons like him who are mere underlings to us, yet they don't seem to like us too much. Okami is one of them. He especially hates the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi because of its lust for destruction. He's actually very peaceful, a disgrace to what we Bijuu stand for. But...' The Tanuki snorted. 'I would rather not battle with him. When he bites, it hurts.'

Gaara almost started to chuckle but he noticed the three Shadoai now eyeing him. They obviously had been watching him carefully. "Go on." He merely stated, not wanting to tell them that he was a Jinchuriki.

Slowly, Rin nodded before she cleared her throat. "Anyway, Okami forced the Shadoai to stop their battles after witnessing the near death of a child. He had been watching the blood shed from a high cliff but when he witnessed a mother die defending her child, he had had enough. He sang the howlings of many wolves as he came down, making all battles stop to listen. His song of the howlings of thousand wolves brought peace all over the Shadoai and then they begged him to govern them, to lead them away from murdering each other again. They asked him to choose the new leader." She explained.

"And he chose the child that lost his mother." Chiro finally spoke up, his voice a little softer now. "The latest ancestor of Zangetsu. Sen's sixth great grandfather."

Sen nodded, smiling. "My Grandfather became the very first Shadokage. He was very young but with Okami guiding him, he became a proud and honorable leader. It was through the Zangetsu family that Shadoai Village had their leaders. And it is Okami who chooses which Zangetsu becomes the leader when its time for the former to retire. And those who become Shadokage," She paused now pulling at kimono neckline before bringing out a silver pendent on a black leather strap. "They get the Black Diamond of Okami."

On the silver pendent, there was a sparkling black gem embedded in the metal.

Gaara had never seen a diamond in his life, but he knew that this black diamond must have been rare. He had never heard of such things, as it was. But by looking at the diamond, he sensed a power emitting off of it. Even Shukaku was growling a little as if sensing the power within the gem.

"The problem was, at the time my father became Shadokage, my uncle, Caligo wanted the seat of Kage." Sen said, her voice lowering. "It was almost twenty years ago when my father, Kageri Zangetsu was chosen. However, Kageri was the younger brother of the two. It should have been Caligo who became Shadokage. But the day of choosing him came, Okami emerged from the black diamond and flat out told Caligo and Kageri, as well as my grandparents that my uncle had a black heart. He would have used his seat of power to create an army and use Okami's diamond to invade the other Shinobi Villages."

"Caligo became angry." Rin started up. "He was denied the one thing that he desired most but he did not say anything out of fear of Okami. He stayed back in the shadows, plotting to take over the seat of Shadokage. He gathered a few followers that he trusted and waited for a few years. It was at that time, Kageri's wife had given birth to twins. Sen and her brother." She stopped to look at Sen.

The young girl was already digging into her hip pouch, where she pulled out a photo and held it out to Gaara, who took it. "My twin brother's name is Sei. I've never met him but I feel a strange sensation that he is still alive." She told him.

The picture was of a rather beautiful woman and a handsome man holding two newborn babies in their arms and smiling lovingly at them. The two babies had thick head of black hair while their faces were beet red. But they were both as cute as could be. Both of them were looking up at their mother and father's faces and that's when Gaara saw the face behind them.

It was very furry and pure white with orbs of yellow like the full moon. It was a giant white wolf. No doubt that it was the so called Okami. It was looking down at the newborns with such a loving look, as if they were his own cubs.

"One month after Sen and Sei were born, Caligo put his plan into motion. It was at a time where Kageri went out hunting with Okami and a few of our Shadoai." It was Chiro to speak again. "It left Yukoi wide open for an attack. Caligo snuck into Yukoi and Kageri's room and murdered her. He attempted to abduct the twins so he could throw them into a river to drown but Okami was the one who sensed the danger they were in. He ran back to Shadoai Village and attacked Caligo, scarring him. It was I who rescued Sen from the battle. But Caligo got away with the older of the twins, Sei. We haven't seen the boy since."

Sen started sniffling at this time, tears starting to blind her as she curled up a little. "All my life, I always felt this empty hole within me. I always knew that I was missing something. I never knew about my brother until Caligo attacked my father and killed him three years ago. My father's last breath was of the admitting of my brother's existence. He never told me about Sei because he didn't want me to know until they actually found him. He never stopped looking for my brother. He refused to believe that Caligo killed him." She reached up and wiped her eyes. "I always knew that my father had been hiding something but I didn't know it was this. He told me that Caligo admitted that Sei was still alive somewhere. But he wouldn't say where. So that's who we're looking for. My uncle, to force him to tell us what he has done with Sei. I have to find my twin brother."

"If you're suppose to be the new Shadokage, why are you not back in the Shadoai Village?" Gaara asked frowning, but understanding the reasoning.

Sen shook her head with a soft sigh. "Okami hasn't told me that I'm to be the Shadokage. He's actually been very quiet for the past three years other than helping me fight our enemies. The only thing he said was that I can lead but without Sei I cannot be Shadokage." She told him.

Rin nodded as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before dropping her hand back into her lap. "We're guessing that Okami wants both twins to serve as leaders of the Shadoai Village. They are pretty much One. It's the very first time that there had been twins in the Shadoai Village. They've never had twin children before until now." She announced.

Gaara looked at Rin, studying her for a moment before tilting his head. "Since we've met, you have not called Shadoai Village your own. You have always addressed it as 'their' village. As if it is not your village. Are you not Shadoai?" He asked, carefully.

Almost surprised, Rin sat up straighter, sharing a glance with Chiro and Sen before she faintly smiled at Gaara and shook her head. She carefully reached into her hip pouch and brought out a Shinobi headband, though the plate was wrapped completely within the cloth. She fingered it with a very soft look before looking at Gaara. "I am only Shadoai by title. I was not born in Kagegakure. I became apart of their village while as a traveling medic. I left my own village nearly sixteen years ago, a year after Caligo murdered the Lady Shadokage. It was only a few years after leaving my own village that I found the Shadoai Village and saved the life of Sen from a terrible fever." She carefully began unwrapping the headband, yet did not reveal the symbol etched in the silver plate. "I was accepted by the Shadoai for saving the life of the Shadokage's daughter. I became one of her Guardians, along with Chiro. Her mentor, really."

"And best friend." Sen added grinning at the woman.

Rin smiled back before looking back at Gaara. "But in truth, I am from a whole different village." She said softly before holding out her headband. And she smiled even softer when Gaara's eyes lit up with surprise and alarm when he saw the symbol. "I am a Leaf Ninja from Konohagakure."

Gaara stared at the symbol of the leaf with alarm. He couldn't believe this. This woman, Rin Hayashi, was from Konoha!

His head jerked up and he looked directly at Rin, who was looking down at her headband with a faint smile. He could see a pinch of sadness in her eyes, probably remembering everything that had happened. He had to frown at her, eyeing her suspiciously. "You left the Leaf Village? Why? Are you...?" He was asking.

Rin's own head snapped up and she quickly shook her head. "No! I didn't betray my village! I'm not a Rogue, as you may think I am." Her voice lowered again as she heaved a gentle sigh. "The reason I left was because, there was just too many painful memories there. I was born and raised in Konoha and I loved it dearly. I still love it. But...things happened and one of my best friends was killed by trying to save my life, and our best friend's life. My best friend is the only one who knows I'm still alive. Though, I haven't seen him for years. I've heard that he's been doing very well, though. His name is always in the Bingo Books and I'm glad that he's been using the Shar...never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Kakashi?" Gaara found himself ask, startled to even think it. He had caught that brief cut off of saying the Sharingan and he knew it had to be his former teacher she was talking about.

Again, Rin looked at him with surprise, ignoring the curious glances from Sen and Chiro. She looked almost breathless by what he just revealed. "How...how do you know Kakashi?" She asked quietly.

It was Gaara's turn to reveal his own Leaf headband. He had always kept it with him, though hidden on his Sand gourd. He simply used his Sand to turn the gourd to show her his Leaf Shinobi Headband. He didn't know why he was showing her it but for some reason, he felt an inkling of trust for her. If she knew Kakashi and had once been his friend, then why not? And once again, Rin looked surprised. "I was not born in Konoha but I was raised there. Kakashi Hatake was my mentor and is a very close friend of mine."

And then he began to explain his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thus, we bring in the Shadoai, a completely OOc band of ninja. Keep reading and review please, my friends! ^_^!


	22. Chapter Twenty One

It took nearly two hours to tell the Shadoai his story but Gaara explained everything about his life. When he had learned that Rin was a Leaf Shinobi, he felt the trust to telling her who he was and why he had been brought up in Konoha.

He even revealed what he was.

And for a very long time, all three Shadoai stared at him with wide eyes, almost too astonished to say anything after Gaara finished telling them about himself and Shukaku. Rin had her hand covering her mouth, looking so alarmed but there was a hint of satisfaction on her face for what he had told her about Kakashi. She was now eyeing him with such an understanding that Gaara almost felt so content. He had never really met anyone other than Jiraiya or Naruto who had that look on their face that they did not judge him poorly for carrying the One Tailed Tanuki. But the look on Rin's face, it made him feel that she would not judge him at all.

"So...so you're a Jinchuriki and now you're looking for another Jinchuriki?" Sen asked tilting her head.

Gaara merely nodded as he leaned against his gourd, watching all three carefully. He was almost pleased that they weren't eyeing him in disgust but in soft understanding. "Yes. Kankuro and I are currently searching for the Third Tail Bijuu, Sanbi before the Akatsuki can get to him. And to find him, I must find the boy, Yukimaru. As I have said, he's been an experiement of Orochimaru's and I have to convince him to leave the Snake before he gets himself killed. And I do not like the idea of Orochimaru using the Third Tail. If he possesses the One Tailed, he could probably use him to create a Tsunami to wipe out Konoha." He explained quietly.

Rin frowned as she cupped her chin in her hand. "Well, you are in luck, Gaara. We know Yukimaru. He comes here all of the time, bringing flowers for the onsen. Especially white camellias. He's a very gentle person and he doesn't seem to have any negative energy at all. He's never shown any malice towards anyone." She told him as she shared a glance with Sen, who nodded. "He's been very kind to Sen. When we infilitrated the onsen to see if we could find any information on Caligo because we do get quite a few travelers here, he's been nothing but kind to all of us. She was having a little trouble doing some of her work and he helped her."

"You...you're not going to hurt him if he's working with Orochimaru willingly, are you?" Sen asked carefully.

Gaara looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "If Kankuro and I can help it, no. But if he uses the Third Tail to attack us, then we will have no choice but to fight back." He told her.

Chiro slowly nodded as he rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. "That makes sense and I personally wouldn't blame you. I'd probably do the same. If you're attacked by someone, it's in your right to defend yourself, no matter the percautions." He glanced at Rin, meeting her eyes for a moment before looking back at Gaara. He was quiet for a moment, thinking about something deep within his mind. He looked rather hesitant about saying something and tried to think if he should say it. But then he decided to just go ahead with it. "Lord Kazekage, I should very well ask..."

"Gaara will do." Gaara said, a little dryly. He might have been the Kazekage, but he seriousl didn't like being called the title too much.

"Gaara then." Chiro said, nodding with a light smile on his face, probably amused by the youth's reaction. "Gaara, if we help you with your Third Tail problem, will you help us find Caligo Zangetsu? Perhaps help us find Sei Zangetsu?" He asked.

Almost surprised, Gaara just stared at him for a very long moment. He wasn't sure if he should, or could. He didn't want to bring these three into his problems with finding the Jinchuriki. He knew very well that if the Akatsuki attacked them while being with him, they could easily decide to attack the Shadoai Village for their interference.

But then again, with a glance to Rin, Gaara was curious to know a little more about Kakashi and it was possible he could talk her into telling him about his former teacher.

'Shukaku, what do you think?'

'I don't know, Gaara. It's risky bringing these three in. They could easily get hurt because of Sanbi. Like I said, he's not exactly the easiest to work with. He's stubborn has hell, annoying and quite powerful. It's your call.' Shukaku growled at him.

Thinking on it for a little bit longer, Gaara finally made his decision. He knew it would be risky but if he could make a few more allies, they might have another country to back them up when the Akatsuki decided to attack Konoha full on to trying to get a hold of Naruto. He could protect his brother by demons very well on his own, if Naruto actually needed protection. But it was better to take extra steps a long the way.

Besides, he didn't even have a clue what Yukimaru looked like. He would need Rin, Chiro or Sen to point him out when he showed up at the Onsen.

So, Gaara looked directly at Rin and nodded. "Very well. I will accept your compromise. If you help Kankuro and myself find Yukimaru, we'll try to assist you finding out your killer and this Sei." He told them.

All three smiled as they glanced at one another before they pushed their selves to their feet. And all three, bowed respectfully to him.

"Thank you, Gaara. We greatly appreciate it." Rin said before she wrapped her headband back up and stuffed it back into her pouch. She, however, pulled out a small container full of white pills, unscrewing it and pulling out one. She merely smiled as she held it out to Gaara, who took it with a frown. "Give this to your brother when he wakes up. It'll take care of the headache." She turned with Chiro and Sen, ready to leave. But before following them out, she hesitated for a moment and then turned back, meeting Gaara's eyes. "Gaara, tell me one thing. About Kakashi." She said carefully, tilting her head. "Has he ever...has he ever mentioned me or his best friend, Obito?"

Frowning, Gaara was not familiar with the name. So he had no problem shaking his head. "No. He hasn't exactly been open with myself, Naruto, Sakura or Sasuke. He doesn't speak about himself. He mentioned that his best friend was dead and his name was on the Stone of Memorial, but that's about it."

Rin faintly smiled as she looked softly away. "I should have known. Kakashi's never open about himself." She lift her eyes meeting Gaara's again. "And...Naruto Uzumaki. Does he know...?" She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Never mind. We can talk about this some other time. Good night." She told him before turning and leaving, carefully closing the door shut after herself.

And all Gaara could do was sit there and frown as he tried to think of what she had been talking about.

"AAAAWWWW! Man! My head is killing me! Are you sure that dopey pill that lady gave you will work? Because it doesn't feel like it's working!" Kankuro complained loudly.

It was obviously morning and Kankuro had woken up just like Rin said he would. He immediately started bellowing in pain and gripping his head, complaining about how it was pounding like Sakura punching him or something. The only response he got from Gaara was him rolling his eyes and shoving the small white pill into his brother's hand. And then the young Kazekage explained what transpired the night before. He told him about how it was Sen who poisoned him with a sleeping poison to attempt to get information from them and it backfiring on her. And how he met the former Leaf Ninja, Rin and learning about the Shadoai Village, Kagegakure. Gaara even explained to Kankuro about his deal that he made with them.

Of course, Kankuro complained a little. "Dude, I can't believe the hot chick poisoned me." He groaned before managing to grin a little. "I think I like her more and more every minute."

Gaara sweatdropped but chose to ignore him.

After Kankuro stopped complaining about his head, he looked at Gaara a little seriously. He didn't like the idea of making a deal with some people they didn't know. But he trusted his brother. And if Gaara was putting their trust in these people, he would back him up.

Knock, knock.

Both Gaara and Kankuro looked towards the door just as it began to slid open only to see Sen, carefully looking in. She looked directly at Kankuro, managing a meek smile before it faded when he did not share it. She grimaced only a little before stepping into the room, merely glancing over her shoulder to the woman right behind her, who was dressed as hostess.

"Good morning, honored guests." Rin said bowing low at the waist before glancing over her shoulder as Chiro carried a large tray full of breakfast food and some steaming cups of tea. After he entered, she carefully closed the door after him and looked directly at Gaara, who nodded back to her.

"It's not poisoned this time, is it?" Kankuro asked sourly.

Sen winced, ducking her head low but Rin smiled at him before moving over to the Puppet master and digging into her kimono pocket for another container full of the white pills. "Your head still hurts, I take it." She told him, recieving a look from him that clearly read, "Duh!" She just smiled even more before pulling out a pill and offering it to him. She continued to smile as he gave her a look of suspicion. "It's okay. This one will help."

Kankuro did not take it for a long time but eyed her darkly. He ended up tearing his eyes away from her as Gaara cleared his throat to get his attention. So he glanced over at the younger sibling before reaching out and taking the pill. He merely tossed his head back and downed the pill, swallowing without the need of water.

Rin smiled even more before she raised a hand. "Can I get you to take your hood off, please?" She recieved another look of suspicion but she ignored him as she waited patiently for him to do it. It took a moment for Kankuro to do so but once he had, she pressed her cool hand against his forhead, ignoring the wide eyed look she got for it.

Instead, her hand began to glow a gentle green and the headache slowly died away to nothing.

"Hey. How'd you do...?" Kankuro asked her in bewilderment.

Again, Rin smiled at him as she finally pulled her hand back and tucked the container back away into her kimono. "I'm a medic. I'm sure you're younger brother explained that to you." She turned and looked over to Gaara, her smile slowly fading a little to a more serious look. "Yukimaru has arrived right on time. He's not alone though."

Gaara straightened as he turned from the window he had been standing at and slowly moved over to stand in front of Rin. "Who is he with?" He asked, quietly. His thoughts were immediately on Orochimaru or Kabuto. It even made Shukaku starting to growl to think that Snake might close by. They didn't sense him but it could have been possible. Orochimaru was not exactly the easiest person they could sense.

"Guren." Chiro grunted, folding his arms after he put the breakfast tray down. "She's practically Yukimaru's babysitter. He never goes anywhere without her. And we do have sources saying that she does work for Orochimaru. I think she's the leader of his female pawns. She's a real bitch too. She complains loudly if Sen talks to Yukimaru."

This only made Gaara frown thoughtfully. He didn't like the idea that one of Orochimaru's henchmen were going to be around. That might complicate things when they tried to approach this Yukimaru.

Kankuro, however, put on a very sour face. He didn't like it either. Especially the part where Chiro said that Yukimaru talked to Sen. "What do you mean Yukimaru talks to Sen?" He looked over at Sen, who smirked with a raised eyebrow in his direction. And he shot Rin a look when she began to laugh softly into her hand, a knowing look on her face. "Whaaat? It's not I care. I'm just saying!" He complained.

Gaara rolled his eyes once again for that morning while the other three snickered. He shook his head, choosing to ignore his brother's complaining. Instead, he looked at Chiro again. "This Guren. You say she's one of Orochimaru's subordinates. She's Shinobi?" He asked, seriously.

Chiro lost his snarky grin about Kankuro and looked back at Gaara with serious intent. He nodded only once. "I don't have a clue what village she's from. She doesn't carry any ninja headband. But she has skills. She probably learned them from Orochimaru, himself. I've only seen her use them once but she wasn't being too serious about them. She's got some kind of power over crystals. I've seen her use her crystal abilities to make a guy suffocate for grabbing her. She's very beautiful, I'll admit. But very vain. She has a habit of pausing in front of some of the mirrors all around Onsen and admire herself. It's her beauty that is probably her deadliest weapon. Any man she's come across has hesitated to doing anything to her and then she strikes like some kind of viper."

Rin nodded as she folded her arms. "Guren is not very nice to men. So if you are going to speak to Yukimaru, we're going to have to distract her. Because if she sees either one of you around him, she might attack you. Verbally or physically. I know you must be very strong, Gaara, because of the Shukaku's power. But I don't think I would like to see who is the strongest out of you two." She told him.

"Any ideas of how to get close to Yukimaru then?" Gaara asked in a quiet tone.

For a moment, no one spoke as they considered their options. There weren't too many for them to choose from. They all knew that all of this could turn into a pretty nasty fight if they weren't careful. Gaara certainly wanted to avoid that. He did not want to attract the Akatsuki's attention, though somewhere inside of him, he couldn't wait to crush them and free Naruto and the rest of the Jinchuriki from the fear of being hunted down. He did not want them to live through what he had felt when the Akatsuki attempted to rip Shukaku out of him.

Finally, after a little while, Rin heaved a low sigh. "Well, we can try and distract her by causing a scene. Chiro, cause a commotion in the kitchen today. Start a fight that will get Guren's attention away from Yukimaru for a little while. Just so that Gaara and Kankuro can speak to him." She told her fellow Shadoai.

Chiro merely nodded as he dropped his brawny arms down at his sides. "All right. I can do that. If that gets Guren's attention, I'll take a bigger risk and envolve her. She won't like it but it'll keep her attention on me." He stated.

"Just do not get yourself killed." Gaara sighed, his head lowering a little. He did not want these people making a huge risk to their lives while he tried to convince the boy to leaving Orochimaru's side. It was un-nessessary for Chiro to do such a thing.

Smirking a side ways smile, Chiro tilted his head towards the young Kazekage. "I'll try not to. But no promises. Besides, I am Shadoai. Shadoai have specialty over the elements of shadows. We're masters of the darkness. Sen, here," He threw a thumb in the young Kunoichi's direction. "She's the best Shadow Puppeteer I've ever seen."

Kankuro's head jerked up when he heard the word Puppeteer. He was definitely interested. "Puppeteer?" He asked brightly.

Smirking, Sen nodded before she made a quick hand sign with her hands before holding out her hands and forming a bird with them. Both Gaara and Kankuro watched as she made a shadow figure on the floor before it fluttered its wings and seemed to rise right off the wood of the floor. And it actually did. The shadow bird actually lift off the ground and began flying around the room, surprising the two brothers as they watched it flap around them before diving down and landing right on Kankuro's head. He, of course, jerked a little to look up at it and it took off, flying over to Sen instead, landing on her offered arm.

The young Shadoai merely smiled fondly at it before she formed the Kai sign with her hands and the shadow bird dissapated. "My specialty is the Art of the Shadow Puppets. I can create all kinds of shadow figures and actually bring them to life. I control them with a good amount of Chakra and make them move with the will of my mind." She informed the two.

Kankuro found himself grinning at the very thought. "Sweet! I knew I'd like you!" He cheered and he recieved a cheerful grin from Sen.

Gaara rolled his eyes once again before looking over at Chiro. "What about you and Rin? What are your specialties?" He asked curiously.

Rin lightly shrugged as she placed her hand onto her waist and shifted her weight. "I'm a medic. Medical Jutsu are my specialty but even they can be turned into a weapon. I was actually once a student of the Legendary Sanin, Tsunade, who've I heard became the Fifth Hokage." She smiled brightly at the thought. "I can't believe that she got reeled in to doing that though. She never struck me as the leading type." She announced to them.

A curve of Gaara's mouth revealed his amusement. He would definitely have to fill her in about exactly how good of a leader Tsunade had been. And he was looking forward to telling her about his lovely girl, Sakura, being Tsunade's apprentice. He wondered how she would take it that she was known as one of the best medics in Konoha. She was almost better than Tsunade, herself.

But instead, he glanced over at Chiro, who shook his head and folded his arms again over his chest. "You want to know, you have to see me in battle. I grew up knowing to never tell someone your secrets, even if they became an allie." He informed the two Sand Shinobi.

And Gaara had to nod in agreement and understanding. He had to respect Chiro for that decision. He knew that was probably a very smart idea. So he would leave it at that and even shot Kankuro a look when he opened his mouth to keep asking Chiro about his techniques. His brother barely caught the look that he gave him and clamped his mouth shut with a quiet click.

"So, I guess we better get to it. Yukimaru only brings crate full of flowers that he collects for the Onsen and he doesn't really linger too long." Rin announced as she made her way towards the door, sliding it open just as Chiro joined her. She smiled directly at Sen. "Sen, why don't you give our gracious guests around the Onsen?" She told the girl, turning on her hostess voice.

Sen merely waved a hand at Rin before turning towards Gaara. "Whenever you are ready, honored guests." She told them. Gaara and Kankuro both nodded as they went over to stand next to her. They were ready to do this.

The 'tour' around the Onsen did not last very long at all. Sen was pretty pretending to be the great host and was explaining everything there was to do inside the Onsen. She was going on and on about everything, even though, she knew very well that Gaara wasn't really listening to her. He was actually scanning the entire area, memorizing every detail about the Onsen just in case there was a fight, he would know where everything was. He especially looked for the exits to the Onsen for a quick get away if they needed it.

And finally, his eyes caught sight of a boy carrying a crate full of flowers through a door. He had to stop immediately to get a good look at him.

The boy was probably a little older than Gaara was. Maybe the same age as Temari. He was rather tall, maybe as tall as Gaara was though. He looked a little unsual with below the shoulder length green-gray colored hair and such intense purple eyes. He was dressed in a long sleeve green shirt under a steel gray tunic; his pants being the same color. There was such a peaceful look on his face as he walked. It was a look that reminded Gaara of someone.

The boy reminded Gaara of Haku.

And then, the young Kazekage spied the woman walking beside him. She was very much taller than both of them and Chiro had not been kidding about the way the woman looked. She was very beautiful with her physical appearence and the grace she possessed as she walked. Her hair was the color of sapphire with penetrating black eyes. Her face was quite fair complexed, while she wore very little make up. She was dressed in such strange clothes. Long sleeved winter green jacket with fur alining the collar with skin tight pants, showing off her curvy form. She didn't look dangerous but Gaara sensed the threat behind her. It was no doubt that this was Guren, Yukimaru's babysitter, as Chiro had put it.

Guren had not noticed Gaara or Kankuro yet but Yukimaru must have sensed their eyes. His eyes flickered in their direction and caught the young Kazekage's eyes. He seemed surprised for a moment that anyone was looking at him but then his face softened and he offered a friendly smile.

With only a frown, Gaara responded by nodding his head to him. He wanted very much to motion Yukimaru over to talk but he had a feeling that Guren might be right behind him and she might even recognize him. He had never met her or anything but he was sure Orochimaru may have ticked off his people about what he looked like. He did not want to have any trouble right now.

"What the hell do you mean it's not good!"

Everyone in the exact area suddenly tensed up and all heads jerked towards a door which had been open. Just by looking at it, they knew it was the kitchens. Gaara caught a glimpse of Sen shoot a glance at him and nodding as a signal. He understood her. It was time for Chiro to act up in the kitchen.

A moment later, Rin was backing out of the kitchen, looking positivly afraid. Her face was very pale and her eyes were wide as she cringed against the door with Chiro towering over her, looking extremely pissed off. It looked so real that Kankuro almost took a step towards them to find out what the hell was going on. But he stopped when Sen grabbed his arm and gave him a serious look before she too put a terrified, embarrassed look on her face. She had thrown her hand over her mouth, letting a sharp gasp escape her as she looked on the 'fight' between Rin and Chiro.

Chiro's face was very dark and intimidating as he glared at the cowering Rin who was holding a plate of steamed octopus. "What the hell is wrong with my octopus? Who the hell is complaining about my cooking?" He bellowed, getting quite a lot of attention from some of the people within the Onsen.

"I...I-I'm sorry, sir! But one of the customers just didn't order steamed octopus! They just wanted hot chilie carp! I kn-know they said steamed octopus but they don't want it!" Rin stammered, cringing under Chiro.

"Damn it, Ling! You told me that they ordered steamed octopus! So this about you messing up the order! Again! You are so worthless! You're always mixing up orders and getting them wrong! Why the hell did they even hired a worthless tramp like you? I swear, women are so worthless nowadays!" Chiro exclaimed, probably trying to come up with the worst insults that might even heat up Guren.

And sure enough, Gaara caught sight of a furious look on Guren's face as she balled up her fists and shot Yukimaru a look. She said something quietly to him before stomping forward. "Hey! Dumbass! Don't you dare talk to her like that!" She screeched at him, her voice somewhat sweet but harsh at the same time.

Soon, it became a shout out between Chiro and Guren.

Gaara and Kankuro both smirked to their selves before they looked over at Yukimaru who was watching the fight with unease. He surely did not like confrontations like this. It looked like it bothered him a lot. He wasn't even looking at the two Sand brothers as they slowly turned and made their way over to him with Sen leading them. She was keeping a terrified look on her face.

Noticing their approach, Yukimaru finally looked at the three, still looking uneased but he started to look sympathetic for Sen because she was starting to bring up fearful tears. "Sen." He spoke very softly. "Are you all right?"

Sen looked at him before nodding as she wiped her eyes and sniffling. "Ye-yes. I just hate that chef. He's so mean! He's always yelling at everyone. Even though his food is some of the best around, he can be so grouchy." She sniffed.

Yukimaru finally bent down and set down the box before reaching over and lightly patting Sen's back. He didn't even notice that Kankuro's face was starting to darken and he was glaring at him, which Gaara had to use some sand to jab his brother hard in the side to make him knock it off. "It's going to be okay. Guren will fix it." He told Sen softly before letting his eyes flicker to the two brothers and he offered a gentle smile. "I do not believe we've met yet. Are you...customers here?"

Gaara folded his arms while Kankuro placed his fist against his waist. "Somewhat." The young Kazekage said quietly. He then shook his head as he tilted his head downward. "Actually, we've arrived in the Land of Hot Water, looking for you, Yukimaru." He had to lower his voice even lower so that it didn't catch Guren's attention, who was still too busy having a very loud shouting match with Chiro.

Of course, Yukimaru's eyes snapped wide open with surprise and his mouth fell open only slightly. He had not been expecting to hear that all. "Huh? You've...you've been looking for me?" He then narrowed his eyes curiously. "Who are you?" He asked, lowering his voice as if he caught the hint that Gaara was not trying to get Guren's attention.

"Can we speak in private?" Gaara asked, nearly under his breath. He shook his head when Yukimaru ducked his head a little, looking suspiciously at him. "We're not here to harm you. Just speak to you. It's about...it's about something very, very important."

For a moment, Yukimaru hesitated before letting his eyes flicker over to Guren now starting to get angrier with Chiro but not starting to get violent yet. "I see. This was a distraction for Guren to move away from me." He then looked back at Gaara, meeting his eyes. He stared into them for a very long time, almost complentating whether he should speak to him or not. But then he decided. He merely glanced to the nearest door before grabbing the box and moving towards it. He paused for only a moment to nod for Gaara to follow him.

Gaara and Kankuro nodded at the same time before looking at Sen as they moved towards the door, following Yukimaru inside. Sen, however, stayed outside to stand guard and continue looking the terrified hostess.

Once in the empty spa room, Yukimaru went over to a table and set the box of flowers down. He almost hesitated about turning around but decided against it and did it anyway. He turned and tilted his head curiously, looking directly at Gaara. "What is this about?" He asked quietly, keeping some distance between himself and the two brothers.

"..." It was Gaara's turn to hesitate but then he dipped his head down and looked seriously at Yukimaru. "My name is Gaara of the Sand. This is my brother, Kankuro. We've come in urgency to locate you. Yukimaru, we mean you no harm whatsoever. Please, trust us and relax. And don't panic for what I'm about to tell you. We are under the belief that you have been experimented on by a very bad Shinobi. We know that you have been because we came in contact with some of your files created by Orochimaru." He paused for a moment when Yukimaru tensed but did not move to interupt or anything. "Yukimaru, are you the Third Tail Jinchuriki of Sanbi?"

Again, Yukimaru looked surprised and stared at Gaara for a very long time. He did look very uneasy to be hearing all of this. Especially when the young Kazekage mentioned the Third Tail Beast. "How do you know about the Third Tail?" He asked very cautiously.

Kankuro snorted as he gave his younger brother a glance before looking back at Yukimaru. "Bro, should I tell him?" He simply asked.

"No. I shall." Gaara said without even looking at Kankuro. He shifted his weight to his other foot, still looking right into Yukimaru's eyes. "Yukimaru, I am the Jinchuriki of the One Tailed Biju, Shukaku. He's been leading us to finding you and the Third Tail. We've come to help you escape from Orochimaru." He told him.

For a third time, Yukimaru looked surprise, still staring at Gaara. He did not say anything for a long moment before he finally frowned and stepped back away. "I understand." He murmured quietly before shaking his head. "You believe I am in danger while being with Lord Orochimaru. I find your intentions admirable but a waste of time." He ignored the outraged look he got from Kankuro and the frown deepening on Gaara's. "I'm sorry, but it is. I am not the Jinchuriki of the Third Tail."

"What?" Kankuro yelped. "But in Orochimaru's files...!"

Yukimaru merely glanced at him, a serious look on his face but he shook his head. "I am afraid I don't know what files you are referring to. Perhaps some medical documents that his right hand, Kabuto Yukushi has created in my case. I am in no danger while being with them. In fact," He tilted his head to the side, his face somewhat softening. "It is because of Lord Orochimaru and Kabuto that I am still alive." He told them.

Both Gaara and Kankuro were surprised by his words. They just stared at him for a moment before the young Kazekage tilted his own head. "Can you explain?" He asked curiously.

The youth in front of him nodded. "I can. But I won't. Not until I ask you something. Why are you looking for the Third Tail?" He asked simply.

Kankuro grunted, not looking satisfied at all. He knew that they were just wasting time by talking to this kid if he was not the Third Tail. "Why should we tell you? For all we know, you'll just tell Ol' Snake-face that we're around." He grumbled, getting a discontent look from the boy.

"Kankuro." Gaara said, giving him a look to be quiet. Then he looked back at Yukimaru, meeting his eyes once again. "Kankuro does have a point, though. Can we trust you not to repeat this meeting to Orochimaru? I'm afraid we're not exactly friends."

Yukimaru frowned, his eyes narrowing a little but he shrugged. "I won't lie to him, if that is what you mean. As it is, I don't see him very much. It's always Kabuto. But I won't mention you unless he asks." He tilted his head. "Gaara, of the One Tail, why are you looking for the Third Tail?" He asked again.

This time, Kankuro kept his mouth shut but folded his arms and looking even grumpier. Gaara just dropped his arms, deciding to do all of the talking. He knew they had to be careful of what to say to this Yukimaru now. He clearly admired Orochimaru and that was a little dangerous. He knew he probably shouldn't have told him that he was the One Tailed Jinchuriki now that he knew that this boy wasn't the Third Tail. But it was too to take it back now. So he decided to be partial honest. "You have heard of the Akatsuki, have you not?" He recieved a somewhat surprised look but a curious nod from the young man standing before him. "Then you should know that the Akatsuki is hunting for all of the Nine Tailed Beasts. I am attempting to gather all of the remaining Jinchuriki so we can avoid them succeeding with their plans, whatever they may be. I intend to protect them from the Akatsuki. That is why we must locate the Third Tail. Can you tell us where we can find it?" He asked, being careful.

For a moment, Yukimaru did not say anything but stare at him. He simply just observed the young Kazekage carefully before shaking his head. "I admire your intentions, One Tail Jinchuriki. I do not blame you for wanting to protect the others. But I'm afraid I cannot help you. The Third Tail is very dangerous. It has been in the wild for so long that it has simply become a beast all of its own. It's like a wild animal now. Very uncontrollable. Only I can control it, that is why Orochimaru needs me. If I lose control of it, it would wipe out the entire coast." He told him.

Still frowning, Gaara narrowed his eyes at the young man. "Yukimaru, if you are not the Jinchuriki of the Third, then who is?" He asked, curiously but careful as ever.

For another moment, Yukimaru did not say anything but he looked away from Gaara. There was an almost sad look passing over his entire expression, as if something pained him for a moment before it was gone and he was looking back at the young Kazekage with serious determination. "I should not tell you, Gaara of the Sand. Lord Orochimaru would not permit it. He might even be angry with me." He held up a hand when Kankuro started looking even more pissed off. "But, I think you should know that the Third Tail Turtle, Sanbi, has killed his own Jinchuriki. And he used to be my younger brother, Yagura. The Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure."

Both Gaara and Kankuro looked surprised to hear that. That was most unexpected. They had not been expecting to hear that the former Jinchuriki of the Third had once been a Kage, more or less, to even hear that he had been Yukimaru's younger brother. He must have only been a child at the time then. Yukimaru couldn't have been older than 18 years old.

But before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud thud outside the door before it was slammed open. Very. Hard.

And a very annoyed and dangerous looking Guren was standing in the door way.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

Both of the two Sand brothers tensed up immediately and almost snapped into a defensive stance. But to their surprise, there came a light crash right next to them, tearing their eyes back towards Yukimaru, who had swooped down to quickly start picking up the flowers from the box that had fell from the table. "Oh! Guren! You have startled me!" Yukimaru said, sounding a little sheepish. "Look, you made me knock over my flowers. I do hope that they haven't been damaged." He made a quick glance up at Gaara, catching his eye before looking back down at the fallen flowers.

Gaara caught on immediately and swooped down to help Yukimaru to picking up the flowers. He ignored Kankuro though as he continued to stand tense right beside him. Only a brief glance towards the door, he spied Sen on the floor, wincing as she rubbed her jaw where she seemed to have been smacked. She was shooting Guren a very nasty look before she made a very rude sign behind her back. It didn't seem to be noticed by the angry Kunoichi at all though.

Guren just glared at Gaara and Kankuro, her fingers inching towards her kunai pouch. She was looking highly agitated. "What the hell is going on here? Who the hell are you and what are you doing to Yukimaru?" She demanded.

Quickly, Yukimaru began waving his hands and looking very sheepishly at her. "No, no, no! Guren, it's all right! I was trying to bring the flowers into this room and I needed assistance by opening the door because my hands were full. They were only helping me! They are only patrons of the Onsen and they were trying to be helpful! There is no need for any violence against them! Please, do not be angry at them! If you must be angry, be angry at me! I asked for their help!"

For a moment, Guren continued to glare before the intensity of the glare died down. She dropped her hand completely away from her pouch and she stepped into the room. "Is that so? Well, we don't need your help any more, losers! Get out and stay away from us!" She snapped viciously.

Gaara merely glared right back at her for talking to him and Kankuro like that but he felt Yukimaru's hand brush against his, almost giving him a sign to do as she said. So he stood up, dumping a few flowers back into the box that had fallen out before brushing himself off. He had to grab Kankuro's arm and had to give him a sharp tug to follow him, due to the Puppeteer didn't want to move. He ignored the look he had gotten from it.

"Wait." Yukimaru called, standing up and moving after them. He ignored the sharp hiss he got from Guren as he held out a hand towards Gaara, smiling. "Thank you for trying to help me. Accept this flower as a thank you gift. I appreciate your kindness." He said softly.

Gaara turned back to him and eyed the white camellia in Yukimaru's hand. It was almost closed though, not in full bloom. But he nodded politely and took it from the young man. "Thank you. And I apologize if I got you into trouble." He told him, glancing over at Guren before he and Kankuro backed out of the room, still looking at Yukimaru. He did his best to keeping a distance away from the woman, not wanting to be too close to her at all.

As soon as they were out of the room, Gaara was pulling Kankuro after him, heading straight back towards their room, with Sen quickly tailing after them.

"What the hell was that about? And would you let go of my sleeve?" Kankuro hissed quietly to Gaara.

Gaara shook his head as he clutched the flower in his hand, glancing over his shoulder at Sen as they disappeared out of the hall where Yukimaru was now getting a loud lecture from Guren. "No." He merely grunted at Kankuro.

When they got back to the room and were safely inside, Kankuro almost opened his mouth to start demanding what the hell just happened. But Gaara shushed him with a hiss as he turned his attention onto the flower, pulling the petals back to reveal a quickly scrawled note.

It read: Please Leave.

"Well, that's very nice." Sen muttered a little sarcastic as she folded her arms across her chest. Then she reached up and rubbed her face where it was still a little red from getting smacked by Guren. "Ow. That bitch. I am so going to kick her ass for this."

Kankuro grinned while Gaara rolled his eyes and tossed the flower to the side. He had to think on all of this. "This still presents us a problem. We still do not know where the Third Tail Turtle is and Yukimaru will not tell us. We may have to attempt to follow him to find its location. But one thing is for sure," He paused looking directly at Kankuro. "It's going to be very difficult speaking to it. If it has been in the wild for so long, it may be almost impossible." He turned his head away, reaching out to Shukaku. 'Shukaku.'

The only answer he got was a sleepy grunt.

Gaara would have been stunned to realize that the damn demon was actually sleeping. But instead, he mentally prodded the Tanuki until he received a snarl from him. 'Shukaku, have you been sleeping all this time? Did you not hear what just happened?' He asked irritated.

'Yaaaaawwwwn! Yes, I was sleeping! You never allow me out so what else am I suppose to do? And no, I did hear what just happened. I hear everything that you do, and sometimes it's really annoying!' Shukaku growled. 'The boy might be right about not being able to communicate with Sanbi but I can guarantee you, if anyone is going to be able to talk to him, it'll have to be me. If we can get Sanbi to use some of his chakra and I can connect mine with his, we'll be able to speak to him. Wild or not.'

"Just like what we did with Naruto." Gaara said, not even realizing that he spoke out loud.

Kankuro understood exactly what he was talking about, at a certain extent. He knew that Gaara was speaking to Shukaku. He was used to him drifting off like that. But Sen, however, frowned, crinkling her nose and stared at him with confusion. "Huh?" She asked, almost stupidly.

Gaara didn't pay too much attention to her but continued to speak to Shukaku while Kankuro leaned towards her. "He's just talking to Shukaku. He tends to do that sometimes." He explained to her.

"So...he's talking to himself?" Sen asked, raising eyebrow.

Kankuro shook his head as he smirked at her. "No. Not quite. Shukaku and Gaara may share the same body but they both have their different personalities. They're own minds. They always talk to one another. Sometimes Gaara hates talking to Shukaku but he does it because it's necessary. Especially when it deals with the other tailed beasts. Shukaku is the only Tailed Beast that we can actually talk to without him trying to rip us apart." He told her.

Sen tilted her head, looking curious before shrugging. "Okay. I always thought that the Bijuu were so violent that it was almost impossible to work with them. I've always heard horrible stories about them." She said, biting her lip.

"Heh! True stories, Sen! Believe me! Shukaku used to try and kill anyone that came near Gaara, or even tried to harm him, himself. But Gaara's got him on a tight leash now. He's nothing more than a dog on a...OW!" Kankuro yelped when sand lashed out and smashed against his head. The impact nearly sent the Puppeteer crashing to the floor if Sen had not lashed out and caught his arm. "Gaara!"

"That was not me, Kankuro. You know better than to insult Shukaku when I'm around." Gaara said dryly. He then looked at Sen, shaking his head. "Shukaku and I have made a deal years ago that if he ever harmed anyone close to me, to extreme measures, I would punish him by destroying myself. I die, he dies. We have become rather close over the past few years. But he still finds time to smack Kankuro when he says something stupid."

Sen was nearly shaking a little from laughter. She was really trying not to laugh but it was extremely hard as she helped Kankuro back to his feet, who was rubbing his head vigorously and glaring at Gaara. "I'll try to remember that. I don't think I want to get smacked because I said something wrong." She said, laughing softly.

"Man, I hate Shukaku. That hurt." Kankuro grumbled before dropping his hand. "So what did he say?"

Gaara shook his head as he folded his arms and looked thoughtfully away from his brother. "Shukaku said it would be best if I connected his Chakra with Sanbi's. It's just like what happened with Naruto when he was helping Grandmother Chiyo revive me. When Shukaku's Chakra mixed with the Kyuubi's, we were able to communicate. He believes that if he talks with Sanbi, the Third Tail may listen. The only downside, he may try and attack us. According to Shukaku, they don't get along very well. None of the Tailed Bijuu do." He informed his brother.

Kankuro folded his arms and pinched his brows in thought. "So, how in the hell are we going to find him? That Yukimaru kid won't tell us. He wants us to leave it alone." He grumbled.

Again, Sen bite her lip before she began to pull at her neckline and brought out the silver pendant with the black diamond. "I think I have an idea. It's a little risky but it might be all we have. I can talk to Okami and see if he will send out one of his wolves to tail Yukimaru and Guren. The wolf can track them to where the Third Tail is at and then return to tell us." She told them.

For a moment, Gaara and Kankuro looked at one another, thinking about it. They figured it was worth a shot. So the young Kazekage nodded, looking over at Sen. "Agreed. How long before we will have any answers?" He asked, quietly.

"It might take some time. We don't know if Yukimaru will go straight to the Third Tail or not. I don't really know what he does when he's not here. The wolf can follow him though without looking so conspicuous. Wolves are not very common in these areas but they have been seen before." Sen explained. "The Land of Hot Water don't have problems with them so they don't do anything about them. Okami's wolf can blend in very well."

"Then we will try it." Gaara said completely.

Sen smiled before holding the metal up to her lips and closing her eyes. She stood there for a moment, looking like she was concentrating hard on something before a light breeze began to blow around her, surprising the two Sand brothers. The breeze picked up, swirling all around her and causing her bangs to swish all around her face.

Suddenly a cloud of smoke nearly exploded right beside Sen, causing the two Sand Ninja to tense up. Especially on how big the thing was that emerged from the cloud. It was a steel gray wolf that suddenly appeared right next to Sen. It, however, was almost shoulder high to her, a little bigger than Kiba's dog, Akamaru as. The wolf's paws were no doubt bigger than Kankuro's hands. It's icy white eyes sharply went straight to the two it began growling, as if sensing a threat.

In return, Gaara heard Shukaku starting to growl right back, now starting to vibrate right out of his chest.

"Hey!" Sen immediately said, frowning as she clapped a hand onto the wolf's neck and began massaging it to get its attention. "Stop it. They're not a threat. They're friends." The wolf, however, did not stop growling as it eyed Gaara. It's lips even curled back to reveal his fangs and it only caused the vibrating to rise in Gaara's chest. "He senses a threat in you, Gaara."

"Shukaku, stop it." Gaara said, looking off to the side. His only reply from the demon was another growl before it slowly stopped.

The wolf did not stop growling until Sen grabbed a fist full of its fur and gave a light tug. "Hey! Knock it off or you're going to be answering to Okami." She told it sternly. The wolf shot her a look but it's growls died down. She looked back at Gaara, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. He must sense your demon. Okami's wolves are highly sensitive to stuff like that. And they're extremely overprotective for me. I've been considered a part of their wolf pack because of my family's connection to Okami."

Gaara merely nodded as he looked directly into the glare of the wolf. "I understand." He nodded to the wolf. "We will not harm her, if you can understand me." He told her.

The wolf gave a low growl but stopped it as Sen gave it a very impatient look. It sank down on its hindquarters and turned its icy gaze onto her. After a minute of giving it a very stern look, Sen softened and began running her fingers through its coarse fur, almost soothingly. "Siri, I need you to tail someone. The boy, Yukimaru. Don't let him or Guren notice you. We're trying to find the Third Tail Bijuu, Sanbi. Now, I know how you and the others feel about the Bijuu but it's very necessary that we locate it. You understand, right?" She asked it.

The wolf named Siri gave a light growl before it lashed out a tongue and licked her chin, causing her to laugh. Even Gaara's mouth had to quirk up a little, as well as Kankuro's. It was almost kind of cute by watching this strange sense of compassion from such a dangerous animal like this.

"Good. Thank you, Siri. As soon as you find its location, come tell me." Sen told it, giving it a scratch between the ears. The wolf growled again before seeming to explode in dark smoke. It was almost like it just teleported itself right out of the room.

"Well, that was some big dog you had there. Reminds me of Akamaru." Kankuro said, sharing a glance with Gaara.

Sen merely smiled and shook her head as she tucked her pendant back into her kimono. "Believe it or not, but there's a big difference between dogs and wolves, Kankuro. Dogs are extremely friend and can be trained to be man's best friend. Wolves can't. They are extremely stubborn that way. They choose who they want to be best friends with and who not to be. Especially Okami's wolf pack. They don't listen very well to anyone but me. They don't even listen to Chiro and it irritates him." She told them.

Gaara just shook his head as he thought about it. "How long do you think it will take for him to find the Third Tail?" He asked, frowning.

Sen shrugged. "Like I said before, it varies on Yukimaru. The only thing you can do right now is try and relax. I know it's going to be a little hard but just try. I know..." She paused for a second, biting her lip. "I know that Rin...Rin has been wanting to talk to you, Gaara. Probably about your life in Konoha. And maybe about Kakashi."

The young Kazekage looked right at her with a frown but he found himself agreeing. He kind of wanted to talk to Rin about a few things, himself. There was so much she could tell him that he had been questioning for nearly four years. Everything always dealing with Kakashi. He knew the Copy Ninja very well but he didn't actually KNOW him. He had a feeling that this was his chance to actually get to know his friend and comrade.

"I would very much like to speak to Rin, myself." Gaara finally said after a moment as he met Sen's eyes. "Would you let her know that? In the mean time, I think I would like to think on our situation."

Sen just merely nodded before she looked at Kankuro. "Hey, Kankuro. I get off work in a little while. Wanna hang out?" She asked, smiling.

A wide grin spread out on Kankuro's face and he bobbed his head up and down. "Oh, yeah! Definitely!" He said brightly, earning an equally bright smile from the young Shadoai right in front of him.

Gaara wanted nothing more than to just roll his eyes but in truth, he started thinking about Sakura. It had only been a few days since they left Konoha on this self given mission and he was already starting to really miss her. It made his heart clench only a little as he looked away towards a window, spotting a tree full of cherry blossoms. The petals of the flowers reminded him of Sakura's hair and it was starting to make him feel a little worst. He could not wait till they got this entire thing with the Third Tail over with so that they could go back to Konoha. He couldn't wait to see Sakura again. Or Naruto for that matter. He just prayed that his former student, Quoi was behaving for Iruka. It made him sweat drop to even think about it. 'Quoi, you better be good.' He grumbled to himself.

'Quit thinking about the kid, Gaara. He'll be fine. If Iruka could deal with Naruto for thirteen years, he can deal with Quoi.' Shukaku grumbled within his head. 'Besides, I want to think about Sakura again! I can't wait till you just get it over with and finally mate...'

"SHUKAKU!" Gaara snapped, without meaning to say it out loud.

Both Kankuro and Sen looked at him with wide eyes before the Puppet Master snorted, already guessing that the Sand Tanuki was opening his big mouth again. He just nudged Sen's arm as she stared in shock at Gaara. "Don't worry about him. He does that sometimes too." He said chuckling.

A few hours passed and Gaara was left alone in the room. Kankuro and Sen had taken off to hang out, though it was more like a dessert for his older brother. He knew very well that Kankuro's interest in Sen was just building up more and more, especially when she had showed up at their room actually dressed like a Shinobi. Gaara wasn't too surprised though. Even he had to admit that Sen was pretty cute and she seemed very outgoing. She seemed all right, herself. So if Kankuro did find some way to catch her attention, he would give his older brother his blessing.

Temari, on the other hand...Gaara almost shuddered to think that his older sister might turn into the overbearing older sister and start demanding questions of Sen. She was like that.

Gaara's head came up when he felt a presence approaching his door and he didn't need to tense up for anything because he knew who it was. So he wasn't surprised when he used his sand to float over to the door and slide it open to reveal Rin getting ready to knock on it. She looked surprised though.

"Oh!" Rin said before smiling and nodding politely to him. "Hello, Gaara. I guess you must have sensed me coming." She shrugged when he dipped his head into a nod before she folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing her lavender Shinobi outfit again while her long brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. "Gaara, I'm just about to go on a walk outside the Onsen. Would you like to join me?"

Nodding, Gaara was already moving towards the door and joined her out in the hall. They did not speak for a little until they left the Onsen from the front lobby. Nor did they speak for a little while as they went down a somewhat dry path.

After a little while, Rin turned her attention onto Gaara, folding her arms behind her back. She caught his eyes for a moment before looking forward again. "Well, I guess we should start up a conversation. And surely you must have some questions for me. But first, I'd like to ask you one. What's Kakashi like nowadays? Is he still ANBU?"

Gaara merely glanced at her, somewhat surprised before making it vanish. He should have known that Kakashi might have been ANBU once. He did have quite the skills and he did have quite the name he lived up to. So he shook his head. "I never knew that he was ANBU. He never mentioned it to me and my squad mates. He didn't mention a lot to us, actually." He told her before going on to telling about how he first met Kakashi and about how they became a team.

It took a little while to tell her about his life being on Team Kakashi. He even explained to her about Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and even Kakashi. He told her pretty everything of what he had been through with the Copy Sharingan Ninja. He even started to tell her about what happened while fighting the Akatsuki and Kakashi fighting alongside with Naruto to rescue his body from Deidara of the Akatsuki. He knew he might have mentioned that the night before though but Rin never interrupted but listened in content. She seemed very polite that way.

Finally, he finished by telling her that Team Kakashi ended up changing a little while he had still been recuperating in the hospital while he and the others went out on the mission to retrieve Sasuke.

And for a moment, Rin didn't say anything but stare off at the path they were walking on before they found a tree to sit under. She looked so thoughtful once Gaara had finished. But after a moment, she leaned back onto her palms and looked up into the somewhat sunny and cloudy sky. "I'm not surprised that Kakashi didn't tell you anything, Gaara. He never did like talking about himself. I always guess that he just didn't people to get close to him because he always felt that he would lose them someday in our world." She told him softly.

"Like his best friend?" Gaara asked quietly as he leaned against the tree and watched some of his sand swirl in his hand.

Rin merely nodded. "Yes. Maybe it was Obito that made him drift off from other people. I think that was why he became ANBU because he didn't have to deal with very many people who shared their life stories. He even drifted away from me a little but whenever I really needed him, he would show right back up and always be there to hold my hand when I needed someone to."

"Can I ask what happened? To Obito?"

There was a light shrug from Rin as she brought one knee close to her body and she rest her chin on top of it. She had a sad look in her eyes and Gaara grimaced to think that he might have brought something out that he shouldn't. But she didn't seem to hesitate at all. "When we were kids," She began quietly. "Kakashi was already the star student of the Ninja Academy. He was a brilliant ninja. The youngest Shinobi to ever pass from the Academy and become a Genin. He was six years old when he graduated from the Academy. His teacher was the Fourth Hokage, himself." She smiled a little when she saw Gaara's face light up in surprise. "Hm. He didn't tell you that either, I'm guessing. He was very young but the most skilled Shinobi of the Generation, maybe even a century. Everyone always looked up to him to be the face of Konohagakure. I heard that he had been so excited when he graduated from the Academy. I had heard that he had once been so enthusiastic about being Shinobi. This was before I even met Kakashi."

Gaara only nodded still watching her carefully.

"But it all changed for him. You probably know him as a very serious Shinobi, don't you?" Rin asked, nodding when the young Kazekage did. "He wasn't always like that, from what I've heard. When I first met Kakashi, he wasn't excited about anything. He was so serious and so...he was too grown up for a kid of ten years old when I met him. I later found out..." She hesitated, now resting her head in her arms on her knee. "He lost his child like excitement the day he graduated from the Academy."He became so serious because the day he graduated was the day his father, Sakumo Hatake, took his very own life."

Again, Gaara was surprised and horrified at the same time to be hearing this. He had not been expecting this at all. "Kakashi's father killed himself? Why?" He asked, frowning.

Rin shook her head, not looking at him. "There was this big mission that the White Fang of Konoha went on. It was against enemy ninja of the Fire Country, before the Great Shinobi war. Enemy ninja kidnapped the Country's Lord's daughter and Sakumo was to lead a squad to rescue her." She looked even more sad to think about it. "Something went wrong. His entire squad, his friends were captured and he had to make a choice. Save his friends or save the Lord's daughter. He made his choice." She turned her head and looked right at Gaara. "He chose to save his friends and for it, the Lord's daughter was murdered. It put Konoha Village in a very bad situation. Sakumo Hatake was disgraced by the entire village just because he chose to save his friends instead. Not wanting the disgrace to fall upon Kakashi, he took his prized Kunai and shove it into his heart, killing himself." Her eyes dimmed with a greater sadness. "Kakashi saw it all happen. And it scarred him for a very long time.

"Anyway, for a very long time, Kakashi decided to always do things by the book. He never broke rules, he scolded other kids badly for whenever they did. He did not have friends whatsoever for a very long time." Rin continued. "And then Obito and I were assigned to his squad after we graduated. Kakashi was a year older than we were but it took us a little longer to even graduating. He wasn't happy at first because Obito was so loud and obnoxious." She began to laugh. "He was always so enthusiastic and I guess your friend, Naruto is the same as he was. As for me," She smiled softly, looking down at the grass under them. "I had a crush on Kakashi."

'This sounds familiar.' Shukaku snickered but he was ignored.

"I always knew about Kakashi's youth legacy, about how he was the most brilliant child Shinobi in history. I always admired him but I never got to meet him until I was assigned to Team Seven, which we always called Team Minato." Rin said smiling.

"Team Minato?" Gaara asked curiously.

Rin smiled at him and nodded. "Minato Namikaze. That was the Fourth Hokage's name. Not very many people of your age would know his actual name because no one really used it. He was always called Konoha's Yellow Flash or just the Fourth Hokage." She shrugged lightly. "Anyway, we were Team Minato for a few years and then the Great Shinobi War got out of hand. The Countries were at each other's throats and there was so much bloodshed all over the continent. Team Minato eventually was assigned an S class mission to destroy a bridge so that the Iwagakure's Rock Ninja were planning on crossing so they could invade the Country of Fire. If they would have crossed the bridge and invaded us, thousands of people would have died. Well," She looked saddened again. "Well, a lot of things happened. Obito and Kakashi never really got a long very well but this mission tearing them further apart. They hated each other. They would always bicker and fight and because I kept siding with Kakashi because of my crush on him, I started losing my best friend. Obito was always there for me. In the Academy, on the team. He was always there, watching my back and being my best friend.

"But then things really got bad somewhere else and Minato-senpai ended up having to leave Kakashi in charge of the team because he was needed somewhere else. We were to go on and finish our mission by destroying the bridge." Rin stopped for a long moment, her face falling into a look of despair. "I was the medic of our team, so I wasn't very good at fighting. It was always up to Kakashi, Obito and Minato-senpai to protect me. I was the weakest of the team. So when we were ambushed by two Rock Ninja, who caused a nasty rock slide, I was captured by them and taken."

Gaara just stared at her in silence. This was sort of reminding him about Sakura. She had always thought she was the weakest of Team Seven and she depended on all of the guys to protect her until she learned how to become one of the strongest Kunoichi of the entire village. He always knew that she was strong though. But for Rin, it must have been very hard.

"Anyway," Rin continued. "Obito and Kakashi had a choice to make. Continue on with the mission and destroy the bridge, and save thousands of lives. Or come after the Rock Ninja and rescue me, risking all of those thousand lives." She shook her head. "In truth, for Kakashi, it was his father all over again. He was being forced to walk in his father's footsteps. He chose to destroy the bridge and leave me to die." She merely smiled when Gaara frowned. "Obito was furious but he refused to leave me to die. I was told that Kakashi told him that he was stupid and it was stupid to come after a weakling like me. And I was told that Obito beat up Kakashi for it." She said laughing a little. "He told Kakashi that when one breaks the rules, they are scum. But..."

"When one breaks the rules, they are scum. But when one abandons their friends and team mates, they are lower than scum." Gaara finished with a light smile. He remembered exactly when Kakashi first told them that. "Kakashi used to tell us that all of the time."

Rin just smiled, her eyes looking slightly glaze over. "Obito taught him that. It was the greatest thing he really said, actually. Other than his last words to me. The greatest thing he ever said to me was that he had loved me since the beginning of our friendship." She told Gaara.

Gaara's face fell a little to hear that. He was already starting to get the picture that this Obito had died during that mission.

And as if Rin heard his own thoughts, she nodded. "Obito was killed saving mine and Kakashi's life when the cave I was being kept in collapsed because of the Rock Ninja. That happened hours after he told Kakashi those words though. Obito had left Kakashi just sitting there at the bridge we were suppose to destroy to come save me. And some time after, Kakashi made his decision to join him. We would destroy the bridge after I was rescued. I was only kidnapped because the Rock Ninja knew that I was rather close to Minato-senpai and they were going to use me to distract him during the war. He would have done anything to keep me, Obito and Kakashi safe. But at the time, he wasn't around. And I knew that Minato-senpai felt so guilty after what happened.

"Kakashi and Obito came to save me and for it, Kakashi lost his left eye during a fight with the Rock Ninja. He had been savagely injured but he still managed to kill the Rock Ninja that nearly killed Obito, and together, they came after me." Rin told Gaara with a shrug. "The remaining Rock Ninja was going to kill me but the guys showed up and killed him before he could. His last thing to do was to cause the cave to collapse. Kakashi and I were nearly crushed but Obito shoved us out of the way in time and that's what killed him. He died telling me that he loved me and that he wanted me to transplant his Sharingan eye into Kakashi's lost one as a gift to his best friend."

"Sharingan? You mean..." Gaara was saying frowning.

Rin nodded with a sad smile. "Obito Uchiha. I believe he was...your Sasuke Uchiha's cousin at one time. He died a great hero, Gaara. He died saving our lives and it nearly killed us. To have lost Obito, it nearly ripped us apart. He made Kakashi swear to protect me though. And he did for a couple of years until the Nine Tailed Fox went out of control and started destroying Konoha." She sighed softly. "I...I was so hurt throughout those few years. I blamed myself for what happened to Obito. If I had not been so weak and had been paying attention to my surroundings, I wouldn't have gotten captured and he would have still be alive." Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she rest her chin on her knee. "It was my fault that Obito was killed in battle. Kakashi wouldn't hear anything of it though. He never blamed me. He blamed himself for being mean to me and causing me to feel so weak. But it was after Minato-senpai sealed the Nine Tailed Fox into his own son that I decided that I would..." Her eyes snapped wide open and she slapped a hand over her mouth looking horrified.

But the damage had been done. And Gaara had heard it. His eyes snapping very wide, he looked directly at Rin, stunned. "What?" He cried out in alarm.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

"What?" Gaara cried out in alarm, still staring at Rin with shock.

Her hand still covering her mouth, Rin shook her head violently. She looked pale, yet there was some bright red to her cheeks. She kept shaking her head, now scooting a little ways from Gaara, who still stared at her with shock. Finally after a moment, she lowered her hand to her chin, still looking horrified for her slip up. "I was not suppose to say that! You didn't hear me say it!" She yelped.

Gaara just still stared at her with wide eyes. "The Fourth Hokage? He's Naruto's...!" He was saying but he was cut off when Rin thrust out a hand and covered his mouth.

"Don't! Don't ever, ever say anything to him, Gaara! Please!" Rin begged, her face twisted in pain. She shook her head vigorously when Gaara pried her hand off of his mouth so he could say something. "Gaara, I was not suppose to say that! Only very, very few people knew that Minato did that to his own son! Not even the Leaf Elders knew that it was Minato-senpai's son that he sealed the Nine Tails in! If they ever found out, that would cause so much trouble for your friend!"

Frowning almost angrily but still stunned, Gaara shook his head as he remained staring at her with wide eyes. "He's already in trouble, Rin! He's being hunted down by the Akatsuki! And the Nine Tails is always attempting to break out of him! What do you mean that I can't tell him? He has the right to know that his own father...!" He was saying angrily, sand now starting to swirl around him by his rage.

Rin shook her head, a pained look on her face. "Yes! I know! He does have a right to know, Gaara! I so agree with you on that!" She lowered her head and sighed heavily. She curled her knees up to her chest again and tucked her arms between them. "But it's not my place, or yours to tell him." She told him sadly.

"Then who's right is it?" Gaara demanded.

Rin sank a little lower, almost burying her face into her knees now as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "It's Naruto's God-father's decision to make. Master Jiraiya's." She looked up at him when a sharp intake escaped from Gaara. "Gaara, please. You can't tell Naruto. I know how you feel about wanting to tell him about this. I want to do it myself. But..." Her eyes suddenly grew stern. "You told me that you met the Leaf Elder, Danzo, right? Well, as it is, I have it under strict confidentiality that Danzo has always wanted to use Naruto as a weapon of war. But if he were to ever find out that Naruto was Minato-sempai's son, things will get so bad for him. Danzo will find the reason to lock Naruto up in that godforsaken ANBU Root Department of his and he will do so many terrible things to Naruto, trying to shape him into the perfect tool."

"How do you know that?" Gaara asked, his voice still laced with anger but he was slowly cooling down.

"I know because it was because of Danzo that I had to pretend that I've been dead all of these years." Rin tried to explain in a very serious tone. She nodded only once when Gaara had a dark curious look on his face. "The night of the Nine Tail Fox's sealing in Naruto, when I faked my own death, I saw something that I was not suppose to see. And Danzo knew that."

"What?" Gaara asked, his eyes narrowing a little.

Rin shook her head as she dipped it low into her neck, looking seriously into his eyes. She looked very cautious about this but she didn't look like she was going to hold back. "I saw him plotting to assassinate Minato-Senpai, for if he would have survived after sealing the Nine Tails into Naruto." Her face darkened almost just as dark as Gaara's had just gotten and she merely nodded her head. "He was planning on making sure that Minato-senpai stayed dead. He's got so many dark secrets, Gaara. And in truth, it's his fault that the Great Shinobi War even took place." She told him, her voice very low.

Gaara narrowed his eyes to slits as his head gave a little tilt. "Explain." He said, though making it sound more like a question.

Again, Rin shook her head as she leaned a little closer to Gaara. "I can't. I don't know all of the details. But Danzo did something very bad to someone. Someone very, very powerful. And it triggered to all of the Shinobi Nations. That night, I had been helping all of the Konoha Ninja fighting the Nine Tails, trying not to get killed when I stumbled upon Danzo actually talking to Orochimaru, himself. I overheard some very bad things, Gaara. One, he was plotting to kill Minato-senpai. Two, he was going to kill the other Leaf Elders. Three, he plotted to kill the entire Uchiha Clan." She nodded once when Gaara's mouth parted in silent surprise. "He also said something about getting a hold of a special boy that he was going to train to become an emotionless killer. The boy was going to be his tool of destroying the entire Leaf Village and rebuilding it from the roots, which is why his ANBU department is called Root."

Now, Gaara frowned as the keyword, emotionless caught his attention. Just hearing that word, that certain pale face flashed into his mind. 'Sai.' He frowned even deeper and narrowed his eyes. It did bring up some questions that was for sure. But even so, a thought occurred to him.

"Rin." The young Kazekage said carefully, now looking away. "Do you have a picture of Sen and her twin brother?"

It was Rin's turn to frown with confusion. She lightly shrugged before digging into her pocket and pulling out a photo of the family of four and handing it to him. "Why do you need to see it?" She asked, cautiously.

Gaara didn't exactly answer as he looked down at the two baby twins, staring intensively at the boy, Sei. He was trying to imagine what the boy would have looked like about his age. He couldn't really see it. But there...there did seem to be...

'You don't think that pasty ass, Sai might be this kid, do you?' Shukaku rumbled within his head.

'I don't know. There seems to be few similarities between them. But it's very hard to tell for right now. We don't know a thing about Sai's past. We don't even know where he is from, how long he's been with Danzo as his subordinate or if he's even a Leaf Ninja. I doubt it that this may be Sai. Sai's specialty is Ink manipulation. Not shadows like the Shadoai.' Gaara told the demon. 'But...just may be...' He looked at Rin, who was staring at him very carefully. "Rin, the special boy that Danzo possesses. Do you have any clue who he is or where he came from?" He asked her.

Rin shook her head as she tilted her head to the side. "No. Danzo never said anything about that. He just said that he had a special boy in his possession that he was going to use. Why?" She asked.

Gaara handed back the picture to her, shaking his head. "I mentioned to you about the new team mate, Sai, correct?" He received a now bright eyed nod. "He's Danzo's direct subordinate. He answers directly to the old man. So I believe that Sai is the boy you're talking about." He told her.

"And...why did you need to look at Sen and Sei's picture?" Rin asked, no doubt trying to fight how excited she was starting to hear.

Again, Gaara shook his head. "We don't know anything about Sai. We don't know where he has come from. I don't even think he knows. He has some similarities to the boy in the picture, but I doubt they are the same. I was just trying to double check." He told her.

Still, Rin did have a little excited look in her eyes as she stared down at the picture of the twins before putting it away. She sat there for a very long time, thinking hard about it. She was no doubt somewhat liking the idea that Sai might have been Sei. They're names were almost similar. "Gaara, when we are finished dealing with the Third Tail, will you object to me, Chiro and Sen tagging along with you and Kankuro back to the Leaf Village?" She asked quietly.

Gaara rose a very transparent eyebrow at her but his mouth quirked up at the same. "Are you sure you want to go back to Konoha? You've been considered dead for years now." He told her.

A soft look in Rin's eyes rolled over her as she looked gently away from him. She looked like she was in a peaceful state. "I owe it to Kakashi. He must have been wondering what has happened to me after all of this time." She looked serious again, her eyes snapping up to Gaara. "Yes. I think it's time I returned to my home village and we can throw the Shadoai alliance with Konoha. And the Sand Village, seeing that you are in charge of it. It's about time that the Shadow Village came out of the shadows and made them known." She told him, firmly.

"Very well then." Gaara stated as he pushed himself off the tree and brushed himself off. He offered his hand to Rin to help her up, which she took with a grateful look. "We should probably return then."

Together, the two headed back towards the Onsen, none of them speaking for a little while. They had many thoughts running into their heads to speak at the moment. But then Rin turned back to Gaara, giving him a little troubled look. "Gaara, about Naruto. You won't tell him..." She was saying.

"He has to know, Rin." Gaara interrupted, his eyes narrowing a little as they remained forward. But then he looked back at her, his face somewhat softening. "But I won't say anything for now. I will leave it up to Jiraiya to say it. But if he doesn't, then I will tell him. He's like my brother. We've been there for one another for years now. He's done so much for me that I don't think I could ever do in return."

Rin merely nodded, a little satisfied. "Thank you. That's fair enough." She said before she threw an arm around his shoulders, startling him. She ignored it though as she just walked back with him.

Later that night, it was decided that Sen, Rin and Chiro joined Gaara and Kankuro for dinner, that way they could get to know one another a lot better. They had figured they should see if they could discuss a plan of action for if they did find out where the Third Tail would be. Gaara knew very well that the Shadoai and the former Leaf Shinobi should know what they would be up against.

And after telling them about what kind of demon Sanbi was, they had to figure out a way of how to deal with it.

"Shukaku has stated that Sanbi is water based. As it is, if I was to engage with the Third Tail in battle," Gaara explained. "My sand won't be entirely useful against it. When my sand gets wet, it's rendered useless until it dries. I've had experiences with that sort of thing before. When I was teamed up with Team Seven and we had a mission in Wave Country, we ended facing Zabuza Momochi, which I've already told you about."

"Yet, you knew that your sand would be useless when wet and you still came after the Third Tail." Chiro said, shaking his head. "Forgive me if I offend you, Gaara, but I think it very reckless of you for doing such a thing when you're not properly prepared."

Gaara merely glanced at him, feeling only slightly irritated but he knew that the Shadoai had a point. So he would let it slide.

"What about you, Kankuro? Would your puppets be any use against water?" Rin asked, tilting her head to the side.

Kankuro's face scrunched up with his own irritation but he sighed heavily and shook his head. He was going to feel very embarrassed about this but it was better to just answer the question and get it over with. "Nope. I guess you might have a point. We really stepped into a big puddle of mud this time." He grumbled.

Chiro and Rin both sighed at the same time, while Sen crinkled her nose and folded her arms. "Well, we really are in a bind. None of our techniques are equalized to water base Jutsu. I've never done Shadow Puppets with water before so I guess I could give it a try." She said, sourly. She then looked over at Chiro, frowning. "Chiro, do you think that your techniques might be able to bypass water?"

Gaara and Kankuro glanced at one another before they turned their eyes back onto the large Shadoai. "What techniques do you do have, Chiro?" The Puppet Master asked, scrunching up his brow.

'Uh-oh.' Shukaku grunted in Gaara's head but he was ignored.

For a moment, Chiro gave Kankuro a look and looked like he was going to completely keep his mouth shut. He did not want to reveal his techniques to anyone. But then Rin reached over and slapped his brawny shoulder. "Chiro, this is not the time for your stubborn pride. They need to know what to expect from you." She scolded him.

"Rin, if I choose not to reveal my techniques, then I don't see the reason why I should. If they want to see my skills, they have to see it in battle." Chiro grumbled.

"Chiro, how will you expect them to work with us if they don't know how to work with you?" Rin argued.

'Uh! Gaara!' Shukaku said but he was ignored again.

Sen frowned at her big guardian, sticking out her lip. "Chiro, just tell them about your Bloodline limit already." She told him.

Gaara's eyes lit up a little but he began to raise his hand to protest. He was curious about Chiro's techniques but he did not want the three to be arguing each other. If the Shadoai wanted to let them know, then he should tell them on his own time. Still, it might be in his best interest to actually find out about them. It would give him a clearer picture...

'Gaara! She's coming! RUUUUUN!' Shukaku bellowed loudly in his head, causing the young Kazekage to wince at the high pitch of the Tanuki's voice.

But now that he was paying attention, his eyes snapped wide open when he picked up a rather familiar but very, very ticked off signature coming towards his and Kankuro's position. And rather face her, he quickly used his Sand teleportation to get somewhere out of view.

"Huh?" Kankuro asked dumbly before looking around for where Gaara went, ignoring the surprised looks of the three Shadoai. "Hey, where did Gaara...?"

Suddenly, there was a very loud crash from somewhere in the Onsen, causing all of them to jump and tense up as they grabbed kunai, or in Chiro's case, his scimitar. It sounded like someone had just burst into the lobby and probably broke down the door, startling whoever was in the lobby.

"WHERE ARE THEY? YOU HAVE TWO GUYS HERE! A TALL DUMB LOOKING IDIOT DRESSED AS A RIDICULOUS FREAK WEARING MAKE-UP AND A RED HEAD CARRYING A HUGE GOURD! I KNOW THEY'RE HERE! WHERE ARE THEY?" A screech from outside the room tore through the door.

Kankuro's face completely went white and his eyes must have gone as big as saucers. Even his mouth completely hit his chest before he let out an unattractive squeal before diving towards one of the futon beds within the room. "AHH! Thanks a lot for the warning, Gaara!" He bellowed. "We're not here! Don't let her find us!" He begged the three completely stunned Shadoai.

"Huh? Wha-?" Sen started to ask.

And it was right at that moment, there was a loud crash as someone kicked the door in, sending it flying across the room until it crashed against the wall on the other side of the room, narrowly missing Sen as she dived into Chiro's arms and clutched onto him. But she was soon dumped onto the floor as the large Shadoai was on his feet, leaping over Rin to defend both of them.

Soon enough, Rin and Sen were quickly at his side, holding up their kunai and glaring at the intruder.

The intruder, however, happened to be a very red faced, pissed off looking blonde woman just a little older than Sen, holding a very big fan and looking ready to murder someone. Or someone with a plural.

Temari.

The Sand Kunoichi glared around the room, completely over looking the three ninja already in the room before she saw the quaking futon. Her eyes turned into very deadly slits before she stomped into the room, continuing to ignore the glaring three. "KANKURO! GAARA! GET OUT HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT AND YOU BETTER EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE HELL YOU WERE THINKING? WHAT HAPPENED TO QUOI?" She screeched, making even the three Shadoai wince at the high pitch of her voice.

When Kankuro did not come out from beneath the futon, Temari swung her fan and sent a powerful whirlwind across the room, nearly blowing Sen right off her feet. The whirlwind overturned the table full of food, sending it crashing against the wall and shattering the window, while some of the wind slammed into the futon. The impact lifted the bed high until it went crashing through the wall it was next to, causing quite the damage.

"AHHH!" Kankuro screamed, though sounding very much like a girl as he quickly scooted across the floor and found himself trapped against the wall.

Temari glared even harder at him as she stomped over to the Puppet Master, looming over him like a shadow of death. All the while Chiro, Rin and Sen were still looking ready to move. And they would have if not for some sand coming out of somewhere and holding them back. "Kankuro! Where is Gaara?" She demanded.

"Te-Te-Te-Temari!" Kankuro yelped as he tried to press himself harder against the wall, looking terrified out of his wits. "Wh-wh-what are yo-you doing he-he-here?"

"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?" Sen demanded as she appeared right between Temari and Kankuro. She surprised the Puppet Master by nearly coming out of the shadows in the room, itself. She was holding up the kunai as a threat to Temari, who shot her a very icy look. "What do you think you're doing attacking him?"

Kankuro reached over with a shaky hand and gripped her shoulder, trying to pull her back. "Se-Sen, you do not want to..." He tried to warn her.

"I am a very pissed off older sister! Now, who the hell are you? And get out of my way! Kankuro! Where is Gaara?" Temari snapped, her eyes turning into deadlier looking slits.

A sigh suddenly escaped Gaara as he teleported back into the room from the roof where he had taken to hiding on. He knew better than to try and hide from his older sister. With her mood being out of control like this, she was going to do more than just destroy this room. It would be more than likely she destroyed the entire Onsen looking for him and Kankuro. "Over here." He said quietly.

Whirling around, Temari turned her glare onto him instead before she stomped over to him. And unlike Kankuro, he did not back off but allowed her to loom over him, looking very threatening. "Gaara! What the hell do you think you are doing sending me an eagle from Konoha and telling me that you were not going to return to the Sand Village and leaving me trying to come up with excuses to those old bastards while you were off doing what ever you wanted?" She demanded in a very loud voice. "And what the hell did your message mean that Quoi almost gotten killed because of the mission to getting that idiot, Sasuke back? What the hell did you mean that he had been captured by that sadistic creep, Orochim...!"

But sand quickly covered her mouth, cutting her off, while Gaara sighed again and shook his head. He merely glanced at the three highly alert Shadoai, freezing when he saw quite a few blades actually hovering in the air all around Chiro. All of the kunai and tanto, as well as a few spinning shruiken were almost glowing with Chakra and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Chiro's doing.

"Well," Gaara said calmly with a smirk. "I think I figured out what kind of techniques you have, Chiro." He then motioned to Temari with one hand while waving the other for all of them to stand down. "Allow me to introduce you to my oldest sibling, Temari. Temari, these are our new allies, the Shadoai."

Unfortunately for all of them, not only did Gaara and Kankuro have to pay for all of the damages dealt to the room as well as the lobby, as well as they had been kicked out of the Onsen; all three Shadoai were fired from the Onsen, obliterating their covert operation as workers there. And they were banned from ever stepping foot in the Humble Marsh Onsen again.

"Jeez, you would think they would be happy by all of the money we gave them." Kankuro grumbled. "We sure gave them a lot to cover it all."

"Kankuro, Temari destroyed the room we were staying in and she scared the hell out of the other Onsen patrons. I don't think I blame them for it." Gaara said very dryly as they walked away from the onsen with three very unhappy Shadoai trailing behind them and a very glaring sister on his side.

Temari shot her youngest brother a nasty look before she lashed out and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, forcing him to face her. "Gaara, enough of that! What the hell is going on here? Why wouldn't you come back to the Sand Village?" She demanded.

Dryly, Gaara began to explain to her what he and Kankuro were up to. Though, he started with what happened when they even arrived at Konoha, explaining to her what exactly happened.

And, boy, was she pissed by hearing of what kind of danger Quoi had put himself into.

The three Sand Shinobi and the three Shadoai eventually made camp and they began to fill Temari in with everything. It was easy to say that Sen and Temari really did not like each other because they hadn't stopped giving each other dirty looks. It was growing tiresome on Gaara having to pause to see them glaring at one another every ten minutes. He continued to explain to his older sister that he had met Yukimaru and learned that he was not the Third Tail Jinchuriki as they thought he had been but he knew where to find it. The only problem was, they didn't know where to even look. Gaara even asked Shukaku if he could pick up the scent of the Third Tail but the Sand Tanuki couldn't.

'He's been under water too long that his scent has diminished. The only time I can pick it up again is if he comes out.' Shukaku told his young host.

Gaara merely sighed and continued to try and think of a plan. He figured the only way they would be able to find the Third Tail is if Sen's wolf summon pulled through and located it for them. But for now, he would have to deal with a very angry Temari.

Looking over at the still steaming blonde, the youngest of the siblings sighed and leaned against the tree they decided to camp under. "Temari, I'm sorry we couldn't give you a warning that we were going after the Third Tail. But it would make me feel better if we found him and talked to him about Orochimaru." He told her in his raspy voice.

Temari gave him a sour look. She was clearly not so forgiving so much. "Yeah, yeah. I understand, Gaara. But did you seriously have to tell me to stay at the Village and leave me to those vultures we call Elders? They were frantic when you left with Kankuro and Quoi and they freaked when we got the eagle message about what happened the past week! They are not happy at all, Gaara, with your decision! It had to be Baki who calmed their asses down! I tried but they wouldn't stop yelling!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "It only took my assurance that I would go find you and talk some sense into you that shut them up!"

"..." Gaara's only answer was.

Kankuro frowned as he folded his arms behind his head and laid back against his scrolls, using them as a pillow. "Heh, well, they can deal with it for right now, Tem. This is more important than anything right now. If Orochimaru really does have a Tailed Bijuu with him, then that's a real big problem." He grumbled.

Temari shot him a look before shaking her head. She turned to look at the three Shadoai who were keeping a wary watch on the three siblings. She frowned a little before letting her eyes fall onto Rin. "So...Gaara said that you were Kakashi Hatake's friend." She said, though sounding only a little suspicious.

Rin smiled a friendly smile before nodding. "Yes. A long time ago. We grew up together for a short time before the Kyuubi attacked the Leaf Village." She simply said.

"And you left your village after that? Why?" Temari asked, still quite suspicious. She had not been alerted by Gaara about the conversation he had with Rin. He had figured that it was best to keep that between himself and Rin.

Smiling a little more sadly, Rin shook her head as she folded her hands together in her lap. Her eyes even dropped a little to the ground as she sat up a little straighter. "A lot of things happened and there were too many painful memories within the Leaf Village. I couldn't stand it any longer. So after the Fourth Hokage defeated Kyuubi, I mixed myself within the MIA list and decided to leave." She shook her head again as she lift her eyes and met Temari's. "Of course, Kakashi must have seen me because he did come after me to find out what was going on. I told him that I needed some closure for a little while. I needed time to think and I asked him to cover up my death. He didn't like it and took some time to convince him but he eventually let me go. He's the only one that knows that I'm still alive out here. Apart from you." She explained.

Gaara merely nodded as he watched the former Leaf Ninja for a moment before turning his head towards the night sky. He understood in a way but there was some that he didn't understand. Knowing Kakashi, he wouldn't have let him go if he defected from the village. He knew that he wouldn't have let them go at all. He would have fought for them to stay.

But why let go of Rin? Why did he let her run away from the village? How much did he really care about her?

Those were the questions that he had constantly going through his head right at the moment. He would definitely have to talk to Kakashi when he got back to the Village. He knew for sure that there was going to be a big reaction when he took Rin back to Konoha. He just hoped for her own sake that it wasn't going to be a bad reaction. She had pretended to be dead all of these years and that could have easily been turned into an act of treason. The only thing he was more worried about was how it was going to effect Kakashi for keeping a secret like that quiet for so long. He had lied to a lot of people, saying that Rin Hayashi was dead. He just hoped that Kakashi wouldn't get into serious trouble.

But then again, Rin did have some information that could protect her. If what she said was true about Danzo, she had a real good reason for pretending to be dead. Especially when it dealt with Danzo plotting the total destruction of Konohagakure and rebuilding it from the ashes he created.

Gaara's eyes only narrowed at the very thought. The plot was getting very thick when dealing with that old man. He swore that if what Rin said was true about the old man, he would be there to face him and possibly take him down. Or at least, helped Tsunade take him down. He would definitely have to report to her about that.

Suddenly, a crack of a twig sent all of them on alert. The three Sand Shinobi and the three Shadoai leapt to their feet with their weapons and Gaara's sand ready to attack whatever was approaching; all glaring into the dark trees.

And a moment later, they were relaxing because it was the large wolf belonging to Sen. The large animal stepped out of the darkness as if emerging from the shadows, himself. It growled a little as its eyes swept over Gaara but it stopped as it looked right at Sen, who was already moving forward with a hand. Its muzzle met her outstretched hand and it allowed her to run her fingers through its thick fur.

For a moment, Sen stared into the wolf's moon like eyes before she whirled away from it and looked directly at Gaara. She looked very serious as if she learned something that might have been too life altering. "Siri has found the Third Tail. He followed Yukimaru and Guren to a lake only five miles away from here. They met someone along the way, someone I've only seen once but not recently." She explained in a serious tone. "Some gray haired guy with glasses."

Gaara, Kankuro and Temari frowned grimly at each other, meeting one another's eyes before looking back at the three. And then all three said the very same thing. "Kabuto."


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

It took two hours for them to reach the lake with the wolf in the lead, and Sen riding its back. It wasn't too easy trying to keep up with the wolf but the Sand siblings and the two Shadoai adults kept up very well.

It was after the wolf appearing out of the night did they decide to break camp and head straight up to where the Third Tail's whereabouts were suppose to be. It had not even been hard to decide that was the next course of action. They needed to find the Third Tail immediately before any trouble came meeting them. Namely the bastard, Kabuto or even the Akatsuki. Gaara just hoped that they wouldn't even have a problem with Sanbi, itself. But for some reason, he doubted that. And so did Shukaku.

According to the Sand Tanuki, the giant Sea Turtle did not like him.

Gaara even made a point to tell the others that there may be a fight, so they should be on their guard as they approached the lake that the wolf had told Sen about.

Reaching the lake, the three Sand Shinobi and the three Shadaoi found it almost difficult to see. There was a bright splinter of a moon hanging over the night sky, allowing the very dim light to shine the way. But rolling across the lake, there was such a thick cloud of moisture so it was very difficult to even see the dark water. The night mist was moving like smoky tendrils across the water, making Sen clutch onto the wolf and look around nervously, along with Rin and Temari. All of the Kunoichi didn't like this at all.

Even Kankuro was a little creeped out enough to grip his scroll straps tightly with his hands and look around with wide eyes.

Both Gaara and Chiro were the only ones to keep their cool as they let their eyes slowly scan the entire area. They couldn't tell exactly how big the lake was because of the night mist but they were sure it was very big. If it was hiding a Tailed Bijuu, it must have been.

'Shukaku, can you sense the Sanbi?' Gaara asked the sand demon within.

There was a long pause as Shukaku stretched out his senses before jerking it back and starting to growl, not exactly sounding pleased one bit. 'Oh, yes. He's here. I can smell him. But he's not the only one that's here. I smell that kid, Yukimaru here. And that woman, Guren. But they're not alone. That disgusting death kid is here. They're just about half way across the lake.' He growled.

Gaara quickly glanced at the others, giving them a quick wave to move back away from the lake. They were quick to step back into the shelter of the trees, while looking around in alert. Chiro was gripping his large scimitar tightly, ready to pull it at the first sign of trouble. Temari's hand was on her giant fan, ready to whip it out and it was just the same for the others.

"What is it, Gaara?" Kankuro murmured to his younger brother, his dark eyes flickering around the dark lake. "You sense something?"

Gaara shook his head as he kept a tight grip on his sand, but trying his best to keep his Chakra level down. He didn't want Guren or Kabuto to sense him. He hoped that the Third Tail wouldn't sense him yet until they were gone. "Shukaku. He smells the Third Tail here. But Yukimaru's here with Guren and Kabuto too. Kabuto must be doing something." He said in a very quiet tone.

Temari gritted her teeth as her dark green eyes flickered around the lake before looking over at Gaara. "I wouldn't mind facing Kabuto, Gaara. Not after what your reports said about what he almost did to Quoi." She said acidly.

"Keep your head, Temari." Gaara warned. "Kabuto's a lot more dangerous than you realize. And we still don't know what this Guren is capable of. Chiro, Rin and Sen has told us that she specializes in crystal manipulation but that's about it. Besides, if we start a fight, it might provoke the Third Tail to attacking us. And none of us really stand a chance against water."

Temari made a face as she looked right at him but shook her head. "I don't know about that. I might be able to stand against its water based attacks with my wind fan. I do possess the wind elements with it." She said in a low voice.

Rin's eyes brightened a little and she stood up a little taller, looking over at Gaara. "Hey. That might just work." She said quietly.

"We must remember that the Sanbi is a Tailed Bijuu. Even if Temari possesses the wind element," Gaara warned all of them. "Would she really be able to stand a chance against the Third Tail Turtle?"

Temari stuck out her bottom lip and pouted at her youngest sibling, her arms folded across her chest. She was not happy that he put it like that but she knew he had a point. They all knew that he had a point. They were dealing with a Tailed Bijuu after all. It was going to possess a great amount of Chakra that all of the others but the One Tail couldn't stand against.

Frowning the entire time though, Sen had been very quiet as she thought about every single detail they knew so far. She has asked a few questions on their journey to this lake; questions about this so called Kabuto and about his abilities. But after learning that he had some very dangerous medical jutsu and dealt with dead bodies, it made her shudder. But it did spark some idea in her head and she had to look over at Gaara. "I think I have an idea about what to do. It's going to be very risky but I think it might be the best that we can do so far." She told him.

Gaara frowned at her but nodded for her to go on. Any plan right now would do because he didn't really have one. He wasn't even sure how he was going to be able to connect his Chakra with the Third Tail's Chakra so he could try and seek out the Jinchuriki. That is if he was still alive.

Of course, when Sen actually told him and the others her plan, he wasn't so sure that it was such a good idea. It was risky, as she had warned them but it might work anyway.

For several hours, the group of six sat among the trees and waited. That was all they could do until something actually happened. They would have to wait for the Third Tail, Sanbi to come out of the water or for Yukimaru, Guren or Kabuto to have noticed them camping out near the lake. It was a miracle that they haven't been seen yet. And if they had been, no one came after them.

They rested until dawn and that's when they heard the water startling to bubble and splosh within the lake. Everyone stood up quickly and looked towards the lake, watching as the morning mist was starting to bubble along with the churning water. There was only very little light in the sky but it was enough to see that there was something rising out of the water.

Something very big.

"It's coming!" Gaara said, quickly looking at the others, sharing a nod with his brother and sister. "Be ready. I will immediately head towards the Third Tail and try and speak with it. You distract Kabuto and Guren. I don't want them to interfere."

"We're not going to hurt Yukimaru, are we?" Sen asked, sounding very worried.

Kankuro made a face but kept his mouth shut. But Gaara met the young Shadoai's eyes and shook his head. "No. If we can avoid it, we will. But if I know Kabuto, he's going to fight us to keep us from talking with the Third Tail and talking it into coming with us to keep it safe from the Akatsuki. If I can find the Jinchuriki, then that would be the good thing." He said quietly.

Chiro frowned as he looked over at him before looking around the lake until his eyes fell on three people they could see in the mist. It wasn't easy spotting them but they could just barely make them out. Guren was standing back with the gray haired guy, Kabuto while they watched as Yukimaru was standing right up at the water's edge, looking like he was concentrating very hard. It seemed to be taking a lot out of him trying to summon the Third Tail. His entire body was trembling.

"He's not doing so good." Rin said, now sounding very concerned at the fact that Yukimaru was starting to get a bloody nose while concentrating. "It's killing him!"

Gaara frowned with everyone else before sharply looking towards the water as something big and white was starting to push up to the surface. Three long tails rose out of the water, dripping wet as a huge shell was revealed. It was a massive looking creature with sharp points all over its shell and along the three tails. It's head was almost clam like though with one gleaming red eye looking in the direction of the one who summoned it. It was growling, so it was clearly not happy that it was being summoned out of the depts of the lake.

But then that gleaming red eye tore away from Yukimaru and looked directly at where Gaara was standing.

'Oh, crap! Sanbi senses us. We better move fast before he decides to attack.' Shukaku growled.

Gaara quickly shot a look at his companions, giving them a sharp nod. "Move! He sees us! Distract them while I deal with the Third Tails!" He said quickly before throwing out his hand and creating a large patch of hard sand. He jumped up onto it and sent it flying towards the Third Tail, while his brother and sister moved quickly in blurs, along with the three Shadoai towards Yukimaru, Guren and Kabuto.

Shortly then, Kabuto had realized that something had distracted the Third Tail and was frowning. But when he picked up some strange signatures, he spun around, snatching one of his kunai from his pouch on his leg. He didn't know who...scratch that. He swore violently when he saw that red haired Sand Manipulator quickly approaching the Third Tail. More or less, he gritted his teeth when he saw a pair of black blurs appear about fifteen feet away from him and the other two.

Standing not too far away, giving him a very dark look, were the two older Sand siblings. Kabuto dipped his head down, frowning deeply right at Temari and Kankuro. He let his eyes flicker to the three standing behind them, not recognizing any one of them. But he really didn't worry too much about them. He was more worried about the two that he actually knew about.

"So, you're here." Kabuto said darkly, gripping his kunai tightly. "How'd you find out about this place?"

"You again?" demanded Guren just as Kabuto had said that last bit. She didn't even care that Kabuto was looking at her rather surprised.

Yukimaru, quite startled, looked from the Third Tail to Gaara and then to Kankuro. He was still concentrating rather hard, ignoring the blood spilling down from his nose onto his chin. "You!" He said with some strain. "Why...why did you follow us here?"

Kankuro shook his head as he gripped his scrolls tightly, ready to pull them out immediately if there was going to be a fight. His dark eyes flickered over to Yukimaru, whose body was trembling from the strain he had while trying to control the Third Tail Turtle. "We already told you why we came, Yukimaru. We're here for the Third Tail Jinchuriki. And we will be taking it with us!" He said, sharply. He, however, glanced over his shoulder when Sen stepped forward, joining his side.

"Yukimaru, please! Just let them take the Third Tail! They only want to protect it from the snake guy, Orochimaru!" The young Shadoai said, sounding just a little worried about how this was going to go.

Kabuto narrowed his eyes before shooting Guren a look. "You didn't tell me that they were here in the Land of Hot Water! You should have said something about them!" He almost snapped at her.

Guren shot him a nasty look of her own as she stepped a little closer to Yukimaru before looking dangerously at the intruders. "Why should I tell you anything, four eyes? Besides, I don't even know who these people are other than those three!" She jabbed her finger towards the Shadoai. "They're suppose to Onsen workers! But it looks like I was wrong about them." She said, glaring at Sen, Chiro and Rin. "You're not Onsen workers, are you? Who are you and what Ninja Village do you reign from?"

Chiro gripped his scimitar tightly in his hand as he shifted a little closer to Sen, who lift her head up higher. He merely glanced to Rin as she reached into her hip pouch and pulled out her former Ninja headband. She didn't waste a moment to tie it around her forehead, letting Kabuto, Guren and Yukimaru see the symbol of the leaf etched in the metal.

"I am Sen Zangetsu, the future Shadokage of the Hidden Village in the Shadows!" The youngest Shadoai said, firmly.

"And I'm her bodyguard, Chiro Nagataka. I'm Shadoai, one of the skilled Ninja of the Shadow Village." Chiro merely stated, his voice rumbling with a threat within.

Rin lift her head as she shifted her weight a little while raising one hand to point towards Kabuto and Guren. Her other hand was close to her chest, yet her fingers were pointing in the same direction as the other hand was. "And I am Rin Hayashi. Konohagakure Ninja and allied with the Shadogakure Village." She nodded to Kabuto. "If you choose to fight us, you will be my opponent. You're suppose to be a medic ninja. But so am I. We'll see whose medical jutsu can be the deadliest." She warned him, her eyes narrowed.

Guren huffed haughtily before she placed both hands onto her waist. "Well, it seems that you guys out number us though. That's hardly fair." She then lift one hand and clicked her fingers with a loud snap.

Right out of the trees came four men, well armed. They were no doubt Ninja, though it was a question of exactly what kind of techniques they had. They didn't look much but it had been a known fact that Ninja should never been underestimated by their looks. Both Temari and Kankuro knew that. Rin knew that. Sen and Chiro may have not had too much experience fighting other ninja because of how isolated their home village was, but they knew not to underestimate their enemies either.

"Well, seven versus four." Sen said, her tone rather hard. "That's hardly fair."

Kankuro snorted as he yanked off his scrolls before throwing them outward, unraveling them. He made a quick sign with his hand and with a burst of smoke, all three of his puppets popped out of the scrolls, chattering their teeth like grinning skeletons. "Nope, Sen! Seven versus seven! We're equaled in numbers!" He dipped his head down a little as several glowing blue strings emitted from his fingers and connected to his puppets. "Now, do you really want to do this, people? Cause I can guarantee you, you're gonna get one big slap in the face if you try and stop us from taking the Turtle."

All seven of their opponents looked highly hostile at his words. Kabuto was actually very livid that they had even found the lake that the Third Tail was hiding, more or less, that they were there for it. "Your assumptions is going to get you killed, Sand Shinobi. The Third Tail is not going any where with you. It belongs to Orochimaru." He said, acidly.

For only a brief second, Kankuro noticed Yukimaru's eyes darkening at the words of that but it was gone as soon as it came. He merely just glanced away, towards the Third Tail, which was watching as Gaara approached it on his sand. "You're just going to let him say that about your brother like that?" The Puppeteer had to immediately ask.

Yukimaru's eyes flashed with a little surprise as he looked back at Kankuro. But after a brief moment, he looked sullen and shook his head. "That thing is not my brother." He said, almost coldly.

Now, Kankuro and even Temari looked on the gray haired kid with disgust. They both couldn't believe he would say something like that. "How could you say that with such a straight face?" Temari demanded, her eyes full of anger. "Of course he's your brother! Just because he's a Jinchuriki doesn't mean he's not your brother! Our brother is a Jinchuriki!"

"Yagura is dead!" Yukimaru said, now looking slightly angry. His small slender hands balled up into fists to show that he was getting angrier by the minute. "He died the minute he abandoned me!"

Now, the Sand Siblings, the two Shadoai and the Leaf Kunoichi looked surprised to hear him say that. They didn't know what to make of it. "What? What do you mean he abandoned you?" He's right there, in the lake." Sen asked, frowning and tilting her head to the side, looking towards Sanbi.

Yukimaru just shook his head with a look of pain and anger in his eyes. He didn't want to tell them anything. He didn't want anyone to know the truth about him and his brother. No one knew about it but Guren.

Huffing impatiently, Guren only shifted her weight. "Oh, jeez! Can we just get to it now? I'm done talking! It's not your business to know about Yukimaru! It's not like it's going to matter anyway after we kill you, losers!" She shot the five men a look, jerking her head for them to attack. "Rinji, Gozu, Kigiri, Kiho and Nurari! I don't want any one of them to walk away from this lake alive!" She ordered.

All Five nodded and charged to take on the four Ninja. Kankuro was quick to intercept three of them while the others moved quickly to take out the others, Guren and Kabuto included.

Rin was quick to intercept Kabuto before Temari was. She spared a quick glance at the Wind Mistress in apology but Temari didn't seem to care. She just wanted to take down someone. So she put her attention on Guren, deciding it was her that she would take out. Chiro and Sen fought side by side with their own opponents while Yukimaru just turned his attention onto the Third Tail to watch the face off with it.

'You're all fools. The Third Tail will drown you all if you attack it.' He thought grimly to himself.

Gaara approached the Third Tail Turtle quickly but cautiously, keeping his eyes on it. He did not want to spook it into attacking him. He wanted a less than violent confrontation with Sanbi and its Jinchuriki host. It would make things a lot easier for him if he didn't have to fight it.

Of course, the Third Tail didn't want to make it easy for him.

Growling at the approaching Kazekage, Sanbi dipped his head down low before shooting it back up and spitting out a flood of water at him. The blast of water nearly knocked Gaara right out of the air from his sand. He had to use a quick manuiver to avoid getting any of it wet. It didn't help too much when a patch of it did get hit and fell in globs towards the lake.

Gaara quickly moved back, keeping crouched low to his patch of sand. "This is not a good idea!" He growled to himself, and Shukaku.

'Duh! That's what I've been trying to say! You want to face the Third Tail, you're going to need me, Gaara! Let me take control!'

The young Kazekage growled at the idea and moved quickly to avoid another blast of water. He did not want to depend on Shukaku to face another Jinchuriki! Though, he did have some trust towards his Bijuu, he didn't not entirely trust him. He wanted to do this his way.

Shukaku growled at Gaara for his own thoughts, obviously not liking being ignored. 'You can't face him this way, kid! You need me! Right now, all you are is a moving target! Our sand is not going to do anything against the Tailed Beast of Water! But if I can get close enough to him, maybe I can connect our Chakra so you can get inside his mind!'

Again, Gaara ignored him as he dodged another blast of water being shot at him by Sanbi. He knew that Shukaku had a point. He was just a moving target. But maybe, just maybe he could get his sand around the Turtle and hold him down.

Shooting out his hands, Gaara's Sand Gourd exploded from his back and shot towards the Third Tail, quickly moving around the water blasts and attempting to engulf the Turtle. Only clumps of sand ended up getting soaked and fell into the lake below. He watched very carefully as his sand grabbed a hold of Sanbi, now trying to weigh it down a little.

But, once again, Sanbi growled in irritation before it lashed out its tails and slapped against the lake's surface. Tidal waves exploded upward and soaked the sand, rendering it useless.

"Dammit!" Gaara exclaimed in frustration.

However, Gaara's head jerked down when another blast of water shot from the Turtle's mouth and squarely hit him. His eyes widened as the sand under him gave out immediately and he fell towards the water. 'No! Dammit!' He cursed loudly within his head.

Suddenly, something collided with him, stopping his fall into the water. He was startled at first before he glanced down to see what he had landed on, only to be surprised to see a large white wolf. He had to double take it for a moment before realizing it was one of Sen's. The young Kazekage quickly looked over to where Sen was fighting one of Guren's thugs. She had quickly glanced over her shoulder back at him before meeting his eyes and offering him a quick smile before going back to what she was doing.

Gaara merely jerked his head into a nod before looking back to Sanbi. He glanced at the wolf, who looked back at him before turning its full attention onto the Third Tail. "Thank you for your help. But I will take it from here. You best go help Sen. Because what I'm about to do, it's going to be very dangerous." He said as he hopped off the large wolf's back onto the ground near the lake.

'So I'm taking it that you're finally agreeing with me?' Shukaku asked, almost smuggly.

The young Kazekage just lowered his head, his eyes narrowing almost dangerously. He didn't want to do this. But he knew that he was in a huge bind with the Sanbi. He was going to have to do this. There was no other way. And he wasn't going to endanger his siblings or the other three. And fighting the Sanbi as himself wasn't going to help too much.

So he had no choice but to transform.

"No. I'm not. But if you hurt anyone, you already know what will happen." Gaara warned his demon before he began to unlock the mental gates he had around Shukaku. He really did not want to give Shukaku any control but Sanbi wasn't giving him a choice. It was too dangerous for the others to fight him, and it was proving even more difficult fighting him. So Gaara would have to give another Tailed Demon a try. He only hoped that Shukaku would live up to his promise of not harming anyone.

A painful sting rose up within his head, making it unbearable for his eyes to stay open. He had to close his eyes tightly as the sting grew to excruciating pain. He hated having to transform into the Sand Beast, but right now, he didn't have much of a choice.

The transformation was as painful as it always had been. It made Gaara clap his hands over his head to try and help some of the pain but it didn't work. He couldn't stop the groan of pain from turning into a terrible howl. He knew very well that it had caught some attention. He didn't have to look to see the horrified looks on those who had never seen such a transformation like Gaara was going through right at the moment. He couldn't care less about it right now. He would have loved to see the horrified look on Kabuto's face when he realized what was happening. He could almost see the Leaf betrayer's eyes growing wide with fear. Gaara wanted nothing more than to see it there for what Kabuto had done to his young student.

But right at the moment, all the young Kazekage could do was concentrate on the pain that he was going through.

Finally the Sand Gourd on his back exploded all around Gaara, forming a huge cloud all around him. But it wasn't just his sand of defense that exploded all around him, hiding his very presense from any watching eyes. Tons of sand spread out, swirling all around the young Kazekage until the very Beast of Sand rose up from the cloud and snarled at the Three Taile Turtle, who began to growl right back at him.

"Oh my god!" Sen gasped as she looked up at Shukaku with horror. "What is that thing?"

Smirking somewhere near her, Kankuro dipped his head down with satisfaction as he looked up at the giant Sand Tanuki who was having a growling war with the Third Tail. "That's Shukaku, Sen. Don't worry though. He won't hurt us. He knows better than to do that. Cause if he does, Gaara will make sure they both suffer the ultimate consequences." He told her.

Rin frowned as she glanced over at him before looking back up at the Sand Demon with a shake of her head. She was surprised, yes. But she had seen a lot worst. "Shukaku, the Blood Thirsty. I've only heard stories of him. But never seen him. He thirsts for blood." She said calmly. "But between him and the Nine Tails, Kyuubi is worst. I have seen what that creature does. He thirsts for total destruction."

Any one who heard merely glanced at one another or her while Kankuro and Temari shared a concerned glance. They weren't concerned for how Rin was saying it. Or for her. They were concerned because they knew she had a point and it did worry them of what would happen if Naruto lost control over his Demon again like he had while fighting Orochimaru. They knew that Gaara would do anything to help him when it happened. But they surely hoped that it wouldn't kill their younger brother any more than it would if something happened to Naruto. All they could do was keep their fingers crossed.

Snarling, Shukaku crouched low to the ground as soon as he laid eyes on the Third Tail Turtle in the lake. He was growling viciously like a beast hunting its prey. He was not surprised when the Third Tail starting growling in rage and even fear when Sanbi saw him. It was not very happy to see the Beast of Sand.

"Shukaku!" Sanbi snarled in an ancient and raspy sounding voice. It startled almost all to even hear it. It was obvious that the Turtle hadn't used his voice in a long time before Yukimaru, Guren or even Kabuto.

Growling in return, Shukaku nearly grinned nastily as he eyed the Third Tail, swinging his tail in the air like he was a cat getting ready to pounce on a mouse. "Hello, Sanbi. Nice to see you after all of this time. It's been nearly a hundred years, hasn't it? You're looking ugly and old as ever? Dude, you really need to get some sun though. I hear it's healthy for your skin." He taunted before crouched lower to the ground. "Now, get over here! My human wants to talk to yours!"

And then he lunged at the Third Tail.

Sanbi snarled back at him but instead of charging to meet the Tanuki head on, he retreated away from him. Gliding a little on the surface of the lake, the Turtle moved further away from Shukaku, believing that he would not follow him into the water.

He was saddly mistaken.

Shukaku was determined to connect his Chakra with Sanbi's, so that Gaara could locate the Third Tail Jinchuriki within the depts of its mind. He had no problem jumping into the shallow parts of the lake, splashing huge waves everywhere while lashing out to grab a hold of the Sanbi. He grunted in satisfaction as he claws wrapped around Sanbi's throat and held him up above water when he tried to quickly sink into its safety zone.

"Oh, no you don't! Sanbi! Quit being such an old coward!" Shukaku snarled as he held as tight as he could to the Turtle when he started thrashing in the lake to get the Tanuki off of him.

Together, the two Bijuu began to wrestle violently within the lake, sending water every where. It even knocked some of Guren's men off their feet and even made Kankuro swear loudly when some water got into the joints of his puppets. It was not good when Crow, Black Ant or even Salamander got wet.

Snarling at each other, the two Bijuu contined their water fight before Shukaku began pressing his Chakra against Sanbi's. He was trying to goad the Turtle into using his own Chakra against him.

For a long few minutes, it didn't work because the Sanbi was too busy trying to yank himself free from Shukaku's grip. But when it realized that the One Tail was striking against him with his hot, course Chakra, he growled and struck back. That was all that Gaara needed once the Chakra clashed against one another.

So Gaara quickly opened up the connection that would allow him access into the Sanbi's mind.

Entering the mind world of the Sanbi's mind was not what Gaara expected at all. Nor did he like it when he saw what kind of world that the Turtle had created for his own mind. Gaara had opened up his mind's eyes only to nearly jump in panic to see a vast ocean surrounding him while he stood on a very small sandy beach. There were large angry tidal waves rolling over each other with a stormy cloud cover high above. Angry lightning and thunder boomed and cracked against the sky, making it so loud that Gaara had to cringe.

Yes, he realized. The Third Tail Turtle was one very angry demon.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY MIND, YOU HUMAN!" Sanbi's aged voice roared in fury as the ocean nearly exploded in front of him, revealing the very demon. The Turtle's one burning red eye glared at Gaara, nearly paralyzing him right on the spot. The Chakra pressure pushing against him was nearly unbearable. It was crushing against his chest, making it harder to breath.

But relief suddenly came to Gaara as Sand quickly swirled all around him, turning into Shukaku's large tail. It curled around the young Kazekage in a protective embrace while the Sand Demon crouched over him, growling at Sanbi for trying to attack Gaara with his Chakra Pressure.

"GET OUT NOW, SHUKAKU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE COMING INTO MY MIND WITHOUT INVITATION? YOU AND YOUR HUMAN WILL DIE FOR THIS!" Sanbi snarled in a loud, booming voice.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Sanbi!" growled Shakuku as he lift his head a little higher. "We just want to talk to your human. It's very important if we see him."

Sanbi's only response was snarling loudly before waving his three long tails and trying to strike out at Shukaku and Gaara. He snarled in frustration and rage when the One Tail curled over Gaara and protected his human from the strike. "GET OUT NOW! I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE MY MIND RIGHT THIS...!" The Third Tail bellowed.

"Sanbi, what is this? Why are you yelling and waking me up?" a very calm and young voice echoed over the roaring oceans while a boy flickered into view with mist swirling all around him.

Both Gaara and Shukaku had to stare in astonishment at the young boy. They hadn't expected this at all.

Yagura of the Third Tail Turtle was not what they expected. He was much younger than Gaara and couldn't even be past ten years old. He didn't look a day over nine, in fact and that's what stunned the young Kazekage the most. Especially when he recalled Yukimaru even telling him that his younger brother was the former Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

Gaara couldn't help himself but stare at this young boy with bewilderment. He was amazed of how young that Yagura was really. He hadn't thought that he would be this young. He had thought that he might have been a little older than this but here he was. There was a ten year old looking boy standing right on top of the twirling and twisting sea as if it was nothing but solid ground.

Yagura was quite small for his age, Gaara realized. He could have only reached the young Kazekage's shoulders from the top of his head. He did have some similarities to Yukimaru, proving that he was the brother of that one. His hair was almost pearl greenish grey while his eyes nearly matched Yukimaru's in the violet color, that looked so dull and lifeless. They looked older than he did. Gaara could only question himself of what this young boy could have seen in his life that made him so old and tired looking. He was wearing what looked like a short sleeved body suit with a sea green scarf wrapped around his waist and one around his neck. Unlike most ninja, he was wearing knee length brown leather boots, that could have been water proofed but Gaara didn't really know about it. Around Yagura's waist, serving as a belt was his Mist ninja headband.

But the oddest thing about Yagura was the nearly six foot tall curved black staff with a pale green green flower sitting directly before the curve. Gaara had never seen a weapon such as that before. But then again, he had didn't know too much about other Countries' weapons too much.

Staring almost lifelessly back at Gaara, the young boy was looking him over before he glanced to Shukaku who was watching him just as curiously as his host was. It bothered the Kazekage to see how deadpanned this boy was. He looked too old for someone who looked only ten years old.

"Who are you and why have you invaded my demon's mind? And my domain?" Yagura asked in a lifelss way.

Gaara stared back at him for a moment, bothered by how dull the boy sound. He didn't understand why there didn't seem to any emotion about this boy at all. He wasn't like Sai in any way. At least Sai made the attempts to have some kind of emotion. But this boy, he didn't seem care at all of how lifeless he looked.

Deciding to do something rash, Gaara stepped out from the protective embrace of Shukaku's tail, ignoring the growling protest from him and the threatening warning growl from Sanbi. The only thing that kept the Third Tail from attacking him was Yagura glancing sharply at him and shaking his head. So obviously, this boy had a good deal of control of his own demon.

"My name is Gaara of the Sand. I'm the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure and a former Ninja of Konohagakure." Gaara began carefully keeping some distance between him and the other boy. He didnt' want to startle him, though he doubted that it would. "Like you, I am a Jinchuriki. As you can see, I reign over the One Tailed, Shukaku. We've come looking for you and your Third Tail. We're not here to fight you, just to talk." He told him calmly. "You are Yagura, correct?"

Yagura practically stared dully at him before merely glancing at Sanbi then back at Gaara. "What gave that away, One Tail Jinchuriki?" He asked in dully sarcasm. "The Third Tail sitting right behind me?"

Irritation spread across Gaara's face but he kept his head about the entire thing. He was used to some sarcasm from others, even though not from other Jinchuriki. Though, seeing that he only knew Naruto, there wasn't any idea of what the others would be like. "Yagura, I've come to help you and your demon escape from the Sanin, Orochimaru. And to protect you from a top secret organization called the Akatsuki. They have been hunting for the Jinchuriki like animals in attempt to extract the Tailed Beasts from us. We don't know what purpose it is, but it's surely something good. Because it kills us if our Beasts are extracted." He told him.

"Really?" Yagura asked dully eyeing him before shifting his hand to his waist. "If these Akatsuki are so secret, then why do you know about them?"

Once again, Gaara was irritated by the way that this kid just spoke to him. He was not used to being talked to like this. More or less, the boy seemed more interested in the fact that he knew about the secret Akatsuki than he was interested in the fact that they were hunting down Jinchuriki. "Did you not hear what I just said...?" The young Kazekage was asking.

Rolling his dull eyes, Yagura shifted his weight to the other foot and looked impatiently at Gaara, which fueled his irritation. "I heard you just fine." He interrupted sharply. "And for your information, I already knew about the Akatsuki. I knew about them before they even created their own little organization. I have been in contact with one more than once in my life time and I seriously don't care about them. They know better than to even mess around with me. If they ever showed up here, Sanbi will take care of them."

Gaara's irritation was now tipping over the edge of becoming angry. He wasn't liking the way that Yagura even talked to him. He acted like he was older than the young Kazekage. He was sure talking as if he was. Especially with how he was saying how he met an Akatsuki member before it even formed. "I don't think you're taking the Akatsuki seriously. They are full of powerful Rogue ninja. They have already killed a few Jinchuriki and captured their demons. They will do the same to you if you don't be careful. They've already tried to extract the One Tail from me." He told him with irritation.

"And yet, you are still here, with the Shukaku. So it seems to me that you managed to get away." Yagura said dully, starting to turn away as if he was going to leave.

"Barely." ground out Gaara through his teeth. His and Shukaku's sand were starting to swirl around him, admitting that he was losing his patience with Yagura. They both ignored the growls coming from Sanbi as they eyed Yagura with sour looks. "The Akatsuki almost killed me, Yagura. In fact, they did. But if it wasn't for a seal that one of the Akatsuki members put on me, one who is not 100 percent loyal to them, I would have lost Shukaku and my life."

Yagura frowned slightly as he glanced back at Gaara before turning his back onto him. He didn't say anything for a moment until he turned slightly back. "Then you got lucky. Between me and you, it won't happen to me." He said dully.

And then he started to flicker with surrounding mist, announcing that he was about to leave.

Now, Gaara was angry. He was getting tired of being talked down to by a kid that was younger than he was. He hated it when someone did it but to be talked down to by Yagura, it was starting to get on his nerves. But instead of reacting rashly, he decided to play a leaf out of Ibiki Morino's book.

Quickly making the correct hand signs that he remembered seeing from the scarred ANBU Commander, Gaara concentrated hard. He could only hope that it would work. But he was sure that it would. He had nearly a whole month going through it while during the Chunin Exams.

"Mind Observing Jutsu." Gaara merely said before quickly swooping down and pressing his hand against the ground. He wasn't sure if that would work but it was worth the try.

And as Gaara had hoped, the stormy sky high above their heads exploded in lights, startling both Yagura and Sanbi to spin around and look to see what was happening. They watched in surprise as the stormy sky was replaced with sparkling orbs like stars dancing all around like. It looked very much like they were actually in the sky with the stars. The sight amazed Yagura and for the first time that Gaara even laid eyes on him, the young boy actually looked astonished other than blankly without life. His eyes had actually lit up in interest as he looked around all of the orbs of red, gold and silver, eyeing them carefully.

After a moment, Yagura frowned and looked over at Gaara with a curious look, one eye squinching in confusion. "What did you do? What kind of Jutsu attack is this?" He asked cautiously.

Gaara merely shook his head as he stood up and faced Yagura. He almost smiled to see that he had definitely caught the young boy off guard like this. It was kind of amusing. "It's not an attack, Yagura. It's a Mind Observation technique that I learned from a good of mine. He spent some time using it on me, trying to train me how to control Shukaku and learning about me." He looked around at all of the nearly thousands of memories dancing all around them. "These are all of my memories. The silver orbs are every day memories that I have lived through. The red ones are the bad memories that I have lived with. And the gold ones are my most treasured memories." He looked back at Yagura, who was eyeing all of the red ones and then the gold ones. "There's a memory I would like you to see. It might help change your mind."

And therefor, Gaara reached out to one of the red memories, allowing it to drift into his hand and open up like a flower. All around them, the entire scenery changed into the night scene of the Sand Village.

"This is the memory when I fought for my home village and was defeated and captured." The young Kazekage told him.

It was the memory of when Gaara returned to the Sand village for the second time to liberate it from the clutches of the Akatsuki. It started from when he found the beaten up Quoi and comforted him. Slowly it turned into the terrible fight of his life and for the Sand Village with the Akatsuki member, Deidara.

Yagura watched as the Past Gaara fought boldly with the Clay Bomber and used every inch of his strength to protect the village and its people. He watched silently as the newly made Kazekage was captured by Deidara and taken to the Akatsuki headquarters to have Shukaku extracted. He frowned as he watched what kind of pain that Gaara had gone through while trapped in the darkness of dying sleep with Shukaku. He watched as Shukaku admitted that he had always admired Gaara for all of the compassion he held within himself for Naruto and the rest of the Konoha Village.

For the first time, Gaara saw Yagura's eyes starting to soften and grow faint as if he was remembering something, himself. He could only wonder what exactly the younger boy was thinking.

But he watched with solemn pain as his Past self was hanging on in the darkness, dying from the false extraction.

"I nearly died that day but remained because of the bond that Naruto and I shared. Naruto is the Nine Tails Jinchuriki and basically my brother through the demons." Gaara spoke once the memory ended. "He used his own Chakra, and the Nine Tails' Chakra to help Elder Chiyo save my life.

For a long time, Yagura didn't speak. He stared nearly thoughtfully at all of the orbs hovering all around him, almost searching for another. He seemed to have found one because he pointed at it. "What is that one?" He asked.

Gaara frowned. He didn't want to show all of his memories to this kid but he figured that if he did show a few, it might help change Yagura's mind to helping him. So he reached out to another red memory, which it kept flickering into gold and plucked it down so that it would open up.

This memory was of the one when he lost control of Shukaku at the end of the Chunin exams and ended up fighting Naruto so that he could run away. Yagura watched wordlessly as he watched the fight between two friends before Naruto seemingly one by telling Gaara that they didn't have to lose their friendship. His eyes softened only a little when the blonde said that they could be monsters together and fight for everything they loved and wanted to protect. His eyes were flickering again with his own memories and it just made Gaara curiouser to know what it was that he was thinking.

Again, Yagura pointed to another once that memory ended and Gaara sighed as he plucked the memory down and allowed it to open.

It was the memory of when he was still just a young Genin with Team Seven going out on their first mission. The memory of when they ran into Zabuza Momochi and fought for their lives and Tazuna's life. It was a painful memory having to watch himself to have kill Haku and Zabuza again, even after they stopped being enemies. Gaara didn't like having to be reminded of his very first kill of his life.

But what startled the young Kazekage was when Yagura's head came up very sharply and he looked almost shocked to see Zabuza. Gaara realized that the young boy must have known the Rogue Ninja of the Mist.

"Wait! You've met Zabuza Momochi?" Yagura asked sharply as he looked at Gaara.

Gaara frowned by that comment but dipped his head into one nod. He knew he should have guessed that Yagura knew about Zabuza. He was in the Bingo books after all. All of the Mist Ninja must have known about Zabuza's reputation for his brutality. It was just a shame that no one could have seen the soft side of him. "Yes. I met Zabuza just after I turned Genin. We fought him because he was hired to kill Tazuna, the old man. To stop him from building a bridge to help a very poor..." He was saying.

"I know who Port City's Tazuna is." Yagura interrupted impatiently. He turned his attention back to the memory just as Zabuza was lying on Gaara's sand, dying from his injuries that he had taken to kill the business man, Gatou. His eyes lit up a little to hear what Zabuza had to say to Gaara's apology. He seemed surprised to hear such words coming from such a man like the Former Mist Ninja.

"Zabuza wasn't as mean and cruel as you might have known." Gaara said, softly. "He did care for Haku deeper than most Mist Ninja would have..."

Yagura gave Gaara an impatient look again but didn't snap at him like the young Kazekage thought that he would have. "I knew Zabuza. Probably a lot better than you did. He was my student and my personal body guard for a number of years before he defected from Kirigakure." He told him.

With that said, Gaara froze. He wasn't sure if he just heard that right. And he wasn't sure if he had. He wasn't sure if he had just heard Yagura say that Zabuza Momochi had been his student. But that couldn't be possible. This kid was just a ten year old. How could a ten year old have taught such a dangerous Mist Ninja who was probably ten times his age?

"What? What do you mean that Zabuza Momochi was your student? How could you have taught him if he was..." Gaara was saying.

Now, the young boy smirked dryly at him, raising one thin eyebrow. He seemed highly amused by Gaara's reaction. "How could have I taught him when I look like a child?" He shook his head and folded his arms, looking impatient but amused at the same time. "How old do you think I am, Gaara of the Sand?" He asked.

Somewhat bewildered, Gaara shook his head, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "You look ten years old. No older than my own student, Chiquoi. You couldn't have taught Zabuza Momochi. You're too young." He said, in confusion.

Again Yagura smirked and shook his head. He was enjoying this very much. "No. I am not ten years old. I only look like a child because of the Third Tail. Out of all Nine Tailed Beasts, the Third is the oldest demon in the entire world. Sea Turtles like him can live up for thousands of years. Or at least hundreds." He shrugged at Gaara's bewildered look. "I am currently supposed to be 37 years old. But because of the Third Tails power, I age very slowly. I am old enough to be your father, Gaara of the Sand. But my body isn't." He told him, adding onto Gaara's astonishment. "I'm not surprised that you are. It's not the first time that I surprised someone like this. You should have seen Zabuza's face when he found out that I was older than he was."

Gaara ended up staring at Yagura for a long moment before he realized that Sanbi was snickering. He glanced up at Shukaku, who didn't look surprised but he didn't look like he had expected this either. The Sand Demon was actually eyeing Yagura with suspicion.

"Wait a moment. If you're that old, then why do you still have Sanbi? From what I remember, anyone who carries that old buzzard ends up getting him extracted after fifteen years. Third Tail Jinchuriki aren't suppose to live past fifteen years old because of the slow aging. You should have lost him a long time ago. So how do you still have him?" He asked, looking between Yagura and Sanbi.

The other two, young looking boy and the Third Tail glanced at one another before looking back at Gaara and Shukaku, who the human was staring at his own demon. "It's actually quite simple." The former Mizukage stated, folding his arms.

"I chose to stay with Yagura as you chose to stay with your human, Shukaku. So far, he's been my favorite human." The old Turtle stated, waving his three tails behind him.

Gaara frowned but narrowed one eye at Yagura, who was watching him carefully. He now only had one question to even ask. "Your brother, Yukimaru, told us that you're his younger brother. If you're suppose to be 37, then how is it that he calls you his younger brother when you're older than him?" He asked the young boy.

Yagura shook his head, his eyes closing only for a fraction of a moment as he sighed. "Yukimaru isn't the age he's suppose to be either, Gaara of the Sand. And that is my doing. He is my older brother. He's suppose to be at least 41 years old but..." He sighed again shaking his head. "When we were very young, Yukimaru got very sick. It's due to the fact that he should have been the Third Tail Jinchuriki. But he was so sick that the Mist Village decided to not even waste their time sealing Sanbi into him. I was seven years old when I recieved the Third Tail. I was weakened for some time but I had enough power to try and cure Yukimaru's illness. We were closer than we should have been. In the Hidden Mist Village, it's actually forbidden to have such close relationships with family members or even with comrades. There are no such thing as friendships while a Mist Ninja. It's a harsh life but that's how it has always been. That's why the Hidden Mist Village is known as the Bloody Mist Village. That and because of the massacreing ritual of the Ninja Academy. It's a sign of true strength of our village. I've never liked that tradition and that's why I tried to change it after I became the Mizukage." He explained in a deadpanned sort of way. "It was unfortunate that I couldn't change it by the time that Zabuza had to go through the bloody ritual of becoming Mist Ninja."

"And Yukimaru?" Gaara asked, confused and tilting his head to the side.

Yagura shook his head as he looked away with a faraway look on his face. "Yukimaru was sixteen when I used the power of the Third Tail to cure him from his illness. It mostly worked but it changed his life as it had with mine. Because I had used the Chakra of Sanbi to cure him, he ages very slowly too. The strangest part about it was that with Yukimaru, it seemed to reverse a little for him. He was Sixteen, yet time seemed to move backwards a few years, making him look eleven years old. So he was sixteen in an eleven year old body." He folded his arms across his chest and moved slightly away from Gaara. "Every ten years, we move one year ahead. I was 17 years old when my body became eight. Nine years, I was 27 years old. and now I am 37 and I look ten years old. It's just the same as Yukimaru. During our four generations of staying young, Yukimaru and I had a little falling out. It surprises me that he still hangs around the Third Tail, keeping an eye on me. He's probably just doing it to make sure that Sanbi doesn't try anything. Not that he would."

Gaara frowned at all of the information he was getting. He couldn't really make any sense to it. But he figured it was the power of the Third Tail that was keeping Yagura so young while he was nearly in his middle years. He didn't understand one bit of it but he didn't think he needed to. "Then how is it that you taught Zabuza. From what I've heard, he was just a boy when he massacred his entire class mates for the title of Ninja." He said softly.

Yagura looked thoughtful again. "I wasn't Mizukage yet when that happened. But I became it shortly after he became a man. I wasn't Mizukage for too long before I had to fake my old death." He looked directly at Gaara when he frowned in confusion. "The reason why I faked my own death is because the Mist Elders did order to extract the Sanbi out of me. They betrayed me even after I tried to kill that tradition of extracting the Third Tail from a fifteen year old Jinchuriki. Zabuza was only a boy when I had him slaughter the Elders to keep myself alive. After he did that for me, I chose new elders. And I chose six other guardians to protect myself from any who dared to challenge me. I knew I should have never done that. But I was desperate to keeping the Sanbi within me so that I could live on with my life. It was not the way of the Mist Ninja but it was my way."

Slowly nodding to what Yagura said, Gaara could understand a little. He didn't think he could blame him too much for wanting to live and doing whatever it took to do it. "So you used Zabuza. That's why he always sprouted things about how Ninja were merely tools for the Villages to use." He said calmly. "You used him as a tool."

For a moment, Yagura looked insulted, eyeing Gaara in disgust and anger but it was quickly gone as he thought about it. He looked away and sighed. "I suppose I did use Zabuza." He turned his eyes back to him. "It was wrong for me to do it that way. But Zabuza was very determined to protect me. For the number of years that I pretended to be his friend, his very strange and unaging friend, I did become such a thing. We became very close and he chose the decision to do what it took to keep me safe." He shook his head. "It was Zabuza Momochi who urged me to becoming Mizukage. That way, I could change the old brutal traditions and put in new ones." He told Gaara. "There was only one problem. To become Mizukage, it's always been a tradition that I could never change that to become Mizukage, you have to challenge the former Mizukage to the death. So become the Fourth Mizukage, I killed the Third Mizukage."

Gaara didn't have anything to say about that. He didn't trust himself to contradict what was the Mist Village's ways and what wasn't. "I'm curious to know how Yukimaru fits in all of this. He's able to control you but how? Is it because of what you did for him?" He asked quietly.

"Yes and no. He doesn't control me but the Third Tail, Sanbi." Yagura stated calmly looking back into Gaara's eyes. "And the only reason why he can control Sanbi is because he has part of his Chakra. It's apart of him now because I saved his life with it. Before our falling out, some time before I became Mizukage, the Mist Village knew about how Yukimaru could control Sanbi and it scared them. He was never a Mist Ninja. He can't really fight like one at all. They wanted to use Yukimaru as only a back up plan just in case if something happened. Like, during the Ninja War. That's when I became the Mizukage. We were in the middle of war and the Mist Village wanted to hide Yukimaru from our enemies. Because if any enemy ninja found out about him, they could kidnap and use him to control the Third Tail to destroying our village.

"Well, they also afraid of what would happen if Yukimaru decided to destroy the village, himself because of the brutal rituals we were doing. So they sent him away by force without me knowing about it. I only found out because of Zabuza. He overheard other Mist Ninja talking about Yukimaru and he let me know." Yagura continued. "Short version of this long tale, I got mad and Zabuza suggested that I became Mizukage and use my influence to bring him back to me. Wanting my older brother back, I didn't think of anything else of it and did it."

"Problem was," Sanbi grunted, tilting his large head. "Yukimaru wasn't exactly too happy to hear what Yagura did to get him back."

Yagura nodded looking at Gaara with dry interest. "Exactly. When he found out that I killed the former Mizukage, he kind of yelled at me and told me I should have never done that. We got into an arguement about it and then stopped talking to one another for a very long time." He looked away with disgruntled look. "I appointed Zabuza as my personal body guard and he served right under me for a number of years. Him and the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He was the strongest other than another member, Kisame Hoshigaki. Kisame was the one who betrayed me. From what I know now, he's one of the Akatsuki. So he's the member of Akatsuki I told you about." He told Gaara and his demon.

"What happened?" Gaara asked frowning darkly. He hadn't liked hearing about an Akatsuki member being close to Yagura and then trying to stab him in the back.

A very dark look crossed over Yagura's face as he returned to his own memories. He looked highly angry at the memory of Kisame's betrayal against him. "To put it bluntly, I was nothing more than a puppet trapped in strings. I was unaware, and so was Sanbi that we were actually being controlled the entire time of being Mizukage." He looked darkly at Gaara. "Even Zabuza was being used until he somehow broke free of the trance he was under. None of us knew who it really was other than it was some man in the shadows called Madara. I heard Kisame only say that name once. But we never knew who he truly was or what village he was from. He was extremely powerful and I did eventually break free from his grip. I did it by ordering Zabuza to assassinate me."

Surprise flashed over Gaara's eyes as he stared at Yagura. That came as a shock. "You ordered Zabuza to assassinate you? Why?" He asked.

"Why else? To make this Madara character think I was dead. I think it worked because he didn't come looking for me. I never personally met him outside the trance. I only remember his voice and I never got to see his face. He was always in the shadows behind me when he was pulling my strings." Yagura explained with a shrug. "Well, either way, Zabuza wasn't too happy that he had to assassinate me. It was a ruse, of course. And that's what caused him to even become a Rogue ninja. But he was doing it for me. I eventually had to abandon him after he played the part of killing me and then stealing my body away from the Mist Village. I couldn't let him stay by side. It was too dangerous and I knew he could take care of himself. I heard he did very well over the years. Well, even after I abandoned Zabuza to fend for himself, I decided that it was time for me to just disappear. I let Sanbi take over and do whatever he wanted while I slept in the darkness of his mind. And then, you came along and here we are."

Gaara slowly nodded. He understood everything that Yagura was telling at the most part. "But you have known that Yukimaru was near by, controlling Sanbi, correct? You knew about Orochimaru?" He asked.

Yagura merely nodded as he looked back at him. "Yes. It was mostly just dreams to me. I was seeing through Sanbi's eyes, coming to me as dreams. I was always fully aware of what was going on. And I do know why this Orochimaru wants to use the Third Tail." He shrugged only once. "He wants to use Sanbi's Chakra to do exactly what happened to Yukimaru. He wants to slow down his aging process and restore whatever lost power he had."

"Yagura, do you still care for Yukimaru?" Gaara asked calmly yet cautiously.

Irritation flickered over Yagura's eyes at the very question. He actually looked insulted that Gaara had to even ask that question. "Yes, I do. I don't even know why I even told you practically my life's story." He said roughly.

Gaara just nodded. "You told it because you do care about Yukimaru. And if you really care about him, you will emerge again." He shook his head when Yagura looked like he was going to start snapping at him. "If Yukimaru keeps helping Orochimaru, he will die." He told him.

And before Yagura could argue any more, Gaara quickly looked up at the many orbs hovering all around them and plucked down a silver ordinary memory out of the air, allowing it open.

It was the memory of what happened when he and his comrades even arrived to the lake. The memory showed Yukimaru trying to summon Sanbi out of the lake while Guren and Kabuto were watching from behind them. And it showed the blood dripping out of Yukimaru's nose, while his eyes were flickering dully as he concentrated hard on controlling the Third Tail Turtle.

"Trying to control the Third Tail like he's doing is killing Yukimaru, Yagura." Gaara stated looking at the surprised look on the boy's face. He was somewhat satisfied to see it. It meant that he had no idea that Yukimaru was getting weakened by doing this all of the time. "It's too much strain on him. Either way, controlling the Third Tail or when he's through being useful to Orochimaru, it's going to kill him. Once Kabuto is done gathering whatever information he needs on Yukimaru and his power to control Sanbi, Orochimaru will have him killed. He knows too much about him and he can't let him tell anyone else. Yukimaru is going to be killed either by the strain or by Orochimaru. The only way to keep him safe and alive is if you take control again and you help us take Orochimaru down and the Akatsuki. That's why I came to talk to you. I had to give you a choice. Your exile or your brother's life."

Yagura did not speak for a very long time. He just stared at the memory of his older brother with blank surprise. He couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say about it.

"Shit! Gaara!" Shukaku barked, now sharply looking down at the young Kazekage. "We got two problems! Guren's crystals technique has caught Temari and it's probably killing her and those guys she's been using is turning on her and that kid! They're not even listening to the death kid! Seems to me having to have that lady boss them around is starting to piss them off!"

Gaara's eyes flashed once before he looked quickly from Shukaku to Yagura then back. He knew that he couldn't linger on, talking with him. He needed to get back out there and help his siblings.

Looking sharply at Yagura, the young Kazekage stepped back against Shukaku's tail. "It's your decision, Yagura! You can help us take down the Akatsuki so that they won't hunt you down and probably kill Yukimaru or you can just stay here and wait for them to hunt you and Sanbi down and then probably kill Yukimaru! Shukaku, it's time for me return!" He told his Sand Demon.

Pouting, Shukaku glared down at him. "Aww, man. Come on, Gaara. I didn't even get to have some fun yet." He grunted but he nodded anyway and burst into a cloud of sand.

Gaara barely glanced over his shoulder at Yagura just as he gave the quick handsigns of release before he was thrust back out into the outside world. He noticed that both Yagura and Sanbi were watching him as he flickered out of view. But there was a thoughtful look on the former Mizukage's face and it at least gave him some hope.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

As soon as Gaara escaped from the combinded minds of the Tailed Demons, his eyes squinted against the blinding light. He could only groan a little before opening them and taking a look around. He wasn't pleased with what he seen though. The first thing he seen was Temari trapped within a large pink crystal, looking both pissed and as if she couldn't breath. She was clutching to her throat, looking as if she was gasping for air.

Immediately, Gaara jumped right to it. He threw his hand out, sending sand flying at the crystal to break it. It did not break on impact though, much to his frustration. He didn't like seeing his oldest sibling like that at all. She was in danger right now and she needed his help. He tried again to break the crystal by smashing his sand against it but it still didn't break.

Getting more frustrated, the young Kazekage twisted his hand and sent his sand swarming around the crystal. There was only one thing he could try that he could think of and it was risky but if he was careful, he would be able to do it. He would try to use the Sand Prison Jutsu and try to crush the crystal, hoping that it wouldn't crush his sister instead.

"Sand Prison Jutsu!" He bellowed, squeezing his hand tightly.

The sand began to put as much pressure against the crystal as it could before there was the nearly heavenly sound of glass breaking before Gaara felt the crystal give out. He felt it crush under his Sand Prison and began to fall away from around Temari.

As soon as the crystal had broken, Gaara quickly withdrew his sand away from his sister, allowing her to stumble while gasping and choking for air. So his suspicions had been right. The crystal had been suffocating Temari. He quickly flew over on his patch of sand to join her, catching her when she nearly fell to the ground. "Temari! Are you all right?" He demanded with a hint of panic in his tone.

Temari merely glanced at him as she leaned against him for support but nodded. She didn't entirely trust herself just yet to speak so that was all she could do.

"Gaara!" Kankuro called over to him while having quite the time trying to fight off three of the men who had started to gang up on him. He was flicking his fingers and hands as fast as he could as they attacked him, allowing his puppets to come to his defense and try to attack back. "It's about time you came back! Did you find that kid?"

Gaara quickly glanced over at him before taking a good look around. He noticed that Rin was still battling it out with Kabuto and putting up a pretty good fight as they used medical techniques against one another. He had only seen a fraction of those techniques by Sakura so he knew that she was doing just fine on her own. He let his eyes flicker over to where Sen and Chiro were nearly back to back, fighting two other of the men and doing fine on their own too.

But his eyes fell onto the last remaining men and noticed that they weren't attacking his comrades any more. They were fighting with Guren. She had a pair of crystal made blades in her hands, trying to fend them off while she was standing between the men and an unconscious Yukimaru. The young man still had a bloody nose but in addition, he had a growing bruise on his cheek. So someone had punched him.

"What happened?" Gaara demanded sternly as he quickly spread out his sand around the entire area, ready to attack when he had the answers that he needed.

Temari finally seemed to find her voice because she stood up right next to him, her hand still clutching onto his shoulder for unsteady support. "Th-they attacked Guren when sh-she got too bossy. She was demanding them to back off from Yukimaru because they were getting too close to him while fighting us. Apparently that was a little too much for them to take. So that one," She pointed at one of the men that was attacking Guren. "He turned on Yukimaru and punched him to catch her off guard. And then they began attacking them." She looked back at Gaara, frowning with concern. "Did you find him?" She asked, worriedly.

Gaara nodded as he met her gaze before looking around at the entire scenery before them. He wasn't entirely satisfied with everything he was seeing. But at least he was there to take care of it. "Yeah. I found him. But I don't think he'll help us. He's in exile within the Third Tail and he doesn't want to come out." He told her.

Sighing heavily, Temari shook her head. "What exactly is he afraid of, Gaara? Of himself hurting people?" She asked, with some irritation.

"No. It's not that, Temari. He's hiding away from the Akatsuki in his own way." Gaara told her.

Temari just shook her head, not liking the sound of it in anyway. "Didn't you make it clear that we came to help him? To protect him and ask for protection in return?" She asked, frowning in irritation.

The young Kazekage nodded only once. "I did. But he's still having a little trouble believing me. He's seen too much of the negative world. He's done things that he couldn't forgive himself and it began with Yukimaru. He's got to forgive himself before he can help us. But I'm not even sure if it'll ever work." He stated before flicking his wrist and summoning up his sand to hover behind him. "I think I better take care of this now. Rest, sister."

Temari just nodded as she moved back and sank down on a near by moss covered log. She was a little worn out with fighting Guren. She hadn't expected the Crystal manipulartor to be so good. "All right." She told him.

Turning his attention back onto the men, Gaara dipped his head back down. He didn't want to kill the five men that were working with Guren but Kabuto was another thing. He couldn't let him go. He was too dangerous because of his ties with Orochimaru. He would send a message to the Sanin by sending Kabuto's body back to him. He would make it clear to Orochimaru that he better back off from the Leaf Village and away from all those he cared about.

However, before he could even use his sand to even attack the five men and Kabuto, there was a loud roar from the lake, causing Gaara's head to jerk around, along with everyone's elses'. He was surprised to see the Third Tail throwing up his three tails and bringing them down hard against the Lake's surface, causing a huge tidel wave. The wave came rolling and crashing over one another and it came crashing over everyone on the banks.

But what made it more odd was how the water seemed to part around Gaara, his companions, and Guren and Yukimaru. It went completely around them, soaking the sand and rendering it useless.

Startled, everyone turned to see what had just happened only to freeze to see that the Third Tail Turtle had vanished and someone else had taken its place.

Standing on a pillar of water, with water spilling upward like a water fall all around him stood the very one that Gaara and Temari had been talking about. Yagura was looking down at them with a very grim look on his face and his arms hanging down by his sides. He was looking directly at Gaara, who managed a small smirk as he looked back up at him.

"It's about time you decided to come join us." The young Kazekage remarked.

Yagura smirked right back before he controlled his water to drop him towards the shore, near Gaara. "I'll defend my own brother, if you don't mind." He remarked quietly before he looking over at Yukimaru before turning and walking towards him. He had to stop when Guren moved in the way, glaring at him. He glared right back. "Get out of my way." He warned.

Guren didn't move as she held up a crystal blade towards him. "What are you planning on doing to him?" She demanded.

"Guren," Gaara spoke up, catching her attention. He ignored the glare that she shot at him. "He's not going to hurt Yukimaru. Yagura just wants to check on him. He's his brother and he's just concerned about him. He has a right to see him."

Of course, Guren didn't listen right away. She continued to glare at Yagura before tearing her eyes away from him when her men began to move as one to attack Gaara and the new arrival. She was surprised at them but she didn't move to make them stop as she stepped closer to Yukimaru to protect him. Both Gaara and Yukimaru, of course, heard them coming and merely turned their heads to watch as all five moved towards them. They didn't even lose their cool or lose any tension as they watched them coming at them with their weapons.

"Gaara!" Sen gasped, starting to move forward only to get caught by Kankuro. "Kankuro! That's five against one! Or...er...two! That's not fair!"

Kankuro shook his head as he snorted. "No. It's two Jinchuriki against five. That's hardly fair. But if they want to be stupid and jump right in the water without testing it first, then that's their own fault. Gaara can take care of himself. I'm sure that Yagura can just do the same. It figures why he's still alive and not in Akatsuki hands yet." He told her bluntly.

"Gaara." Yagura merely said as the men moved closer.

As if he knew what the Third Tail Jinchuriki was going to say, Gaara shook his head as he turned his entire body to face the men as they moved almost five feet away from them now. "Don't kill them, Yagura. They're not worth killing." He told the other Jinchuriki.

A rumbling noise caught everyone's attention, causing the five to stop short and look with everyone towards the lake. It was to their surprise that it was starting to churn and roll before water exploded from it and rose up into the air. The five men couldn't help but step back in surprise as it shot towards them, moving around Yagura and Gaara in a split. They didn't even have a chance as the pounds of water hit them, sending them flying backwards and rolling with the powerful current that shoved them against the trees.

The water, however, kept coming and Gaara knew that if Yagura didn't stop, the men would drown. He looked over at the Third Tail Jinchuriki and frowned. "Yagura, please do not kill them. They're not worthy of killing. They are only fools who don't even know better." He said calmly.

Yagura narrowed his eyes as he watched the lake water continue to hit the five men before he jerked his head. And like that, the water pulled up and did a curve in the air, landing right back in the lake. "Which one hurt my brother?" He said too seriously that Gaara knew that he was looking forward to hurting that one right back.

"Yagura..." The young Kazekage merely started to say.

"It was Rinji." Guren startled everyone by speaking up. It surprised them even more when she pointed out the one who had struck Yukimaru.

Everyone, including Gaara and excluding Yagura, glanced over at her before looking at the man who had hit Yukimaru, whom was on the muddy ground, choking up water. They didn't like the men who had been working with Guren but they were surprised that she would turn one of them in like she just did. Even Kabuto was looking surprised as he stared at her with an almost horrified look.

Yagura, however, just frowned before he suddenly exploded into mist and vanished. It didn't take even a single thought to know what he was up to because everyone was looking at the man, Rinji.

Mist exploded right next to the man, surprising him more than anyone else before a fist lashed out and punched him hard across the face, sending him flying to the ground. The other men started but looked wide eyed at Yagura as he stood over Rinji and didn't even spare them a glance. They looked torn between either attacking him or running away.

Gaara just smirked as he looked at those men. "I would suggest you start running. I will spare you your lives but I don't think he'll be the same. If you choose to attack him, you may regret it in another life." He told them calmly.

The four men who hadn't been attacked just yet looked at him before looking at one another. They didn't need to be told twice. They turned with a jerk and bolted away from the area, hurrying into the trees. They weren't in sight within the five seconds they started running. They were long gone, leaving their fallen comrade right where he had been sitting, spitting up blood from his busted lip.

"Hey. What's wrong with Kabuto?" It was Sen to ask, making everyone look at her.

Gaara frowned slightly before he turned his eyes onto where Kabuto had been standing and he narrowed his eyes when he saw that he had collapsed. It was like he had been the one to be struck and not Rinji. But with only the slightest glance over his fallen form, he narrowed his eyes before turning them back onto Rinji. "Well, I see you're still up to your old tricks, Kabuto. Using a Death Clone as yourself and yourself as one of the renegades that were running with Guren, how original."

Rinji let out a frustrated growl before he turned around. His entire image had changed within a moment though, revealing that he had really been Kabuto. The gray haired medic of Orochimaru glared up at Yagura as he stood over him before shooting his glare towards Gaara. "Lord Orochimaru will never let you forget this, Gaara. He's going to be very angry and I can't say he won't retaliate against you for taking what is his." He growled.

"I do not belong to anyone but myself." Yagura said very coldly, thin trails of water starting to swirl around him to look more menacing. It was somewhate working because Kabuto was cowering back from him.

"In truth, Kabuto," Gaara began just as coldly as Yagura. "I don't care if you even lived or died, due to what you tried to do to my student, Quoi. I would prefer you dead. But I need you to deliver a message to Orochimaru. You can do it alive, or you can do it dead. But you will tell him that none of the Jinchuriki is his play things or his tools of science. And if he ever comes after one of us again, or the Leaf Village, you can let him know that Shukaku is very hungry for snake right now. He's drooling in my head as we speak as he dreams of snake meat." He growled, a little irritated that it was actually true. He could almost feel the pleasure of Shukaku's thoughts for eating Orochimaru. "Now do yourself a favor and get the hell out of my sight before I do let Yagura drown your sorry traitorous ass."

Kabuto glared at Gaara but glanced at Yagura, with only a slight worried look in his eye. He carefully and slowly rose to his feet, keeping watch on the Third Tail Jinchuriki, who had not moved yet. He knew very well that Yagura was itching to do something. His fingers were slightly twitching with the anticipation of doing something to him.

Taking a few steps back away from Yagura, Kabuto looked back at Gaara as he began forming the hand sign to leave. He didn't apply it just yet as he looked the young Kazekage right in the eyes. "Beware of your choice for letting me leave alive, Gaara. I will not forget this." He almost hissed at him.

"Beware of it yourself, Kabuto. Remember that I just let you live when it's my right to kill you in the most painful way." Gaara spoke in a very dangerous tone.

Kabuto's eyes twitched but he nodded. "Becareful, Gaara of the Sand and Leaf. The Akatsuki are moving ever so closely to your village of peace. It's going to be a matter of time when they get you or Naruto. Orochimaru doesn't want them to touch the Tailed Beasts because it will ruin his plans. But I can't say the same. I can't wait till the Akatsuki gets Naruto. It's going to be fun watching the look on your face when they kill him." He said before forming the hand sign.

However, before he could even apply the hand sign and leave in a puff of smoke, sand lashed out and struck him hard across the face, causing Kabuto to cry out as he went spinning to the ground. A trickle of blood was now running down his cheek from where the sand had struck him.

Gaara was glaring harder at him as he took a few menacing steps towards him. "I will die before the Akatsuki touch Naruto." He said in a harsh, dangerous tone. "Let that new scar on your cheek remind you of that. If I ever see you again, Kabuto, that will be the last time. The next time I see you, I will kill you."

Pressing his hand against his cheek, Kabuto scampered back to his feet, sending Gaara a nasty look before he quickly formed the hand signs and was gone.

However, the young Kazekage kept on glaring at that spot and it took everyone just a moment to realize that his shoulders were shaking from the fury he was feeling of what Kabuto had said to him. Yagura was frowning at him as he watched him try to control his temper while Temari and Kankuro were quickly at Gaara's side, looking at him.

"Gaara, calm down." Temari quickly advised. "I know you have a better handle Shukaku but if you lose control..."

Gaara's eyes looked directly at her, almost a little darkly. He quit immediately when she cringed back from the harshness of his eyes before taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "It's not Shukaku, Temari. It is myself." He told her in a low voice.

"Gaara," Rin spoke calmly as she approached him and gently placed her hand onto his shoulder. She didn't cringe away like Temari had when he shot her a look but she smiled sweetly at him. "It's going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen to Naruto. I'm sure he's very strong. And with you protecting him, he'll be fine." Then she turned away from him and started towards Yukimaru, only to stop when Guren glared at her for trying to come too close. She looked onto her with a serious look as she stood tall. "Guren, I'm a medical ninja. Let me pass to look at Yukimaru. I want to make sure that nothing is wrong with him."

Guren didn't move for a long moment but continued to glare at her. She did not let up any tension at all as she remained protective over Yukimaru. But what surprised everyone next was when she glanced to Yagura, meeting his eyes.

For a long moment, the two stared each other down before Yagura lift his head and folded his arms across his chest. He seemed to understand the look that Guren was giving him because he nodded next. It surprised everyone when they realized that the woman was actually asking Yagura for his opinion. Gaara had realized it before anyone else because he smirked to himself as he watched the two stare at each other.

But everyone else was surprised as Guren nodded back to Yagura before she stepped to the side, allowing Rin access to the unconscious Yukimaru. She watched as the former Leaf medic bent down beside the young boy and began checking his vital signs. She then pressed her hand against his cheek and it began to glow a light green, something that all of them knew as a healing technique.

Gaara, however, looked back at Yagura, who turned to meet his eyes. "What made you change your mind?" He asked calmly.

For a moment, Yagura was quiet as he thought about the question that his fellow Jinchuriki asked. He seemed to be considering his words carefully before he looked back at Yukimaru, watching as Rin healed his bruised cheek. "Your words did. And your memories. They've made me realize that I can't keep hiding from what I've done. I've got to face them. I've got to face Yukimaru and let him know that what I've done to him was never right. I abandoned him to protect him because of the Akatsuki. And all it did to him was hurt him more when I didn't explain it to him. I didn't explain why I had to leave him with Zabuza, to take him somewhere safe. And for that, it just left him feeling hurt and alone. He didn't understand why I left his side. And that was completely my fault." He explained in a calm way. He looked back at Gaara. "I think I've realized that I've been hiding from the Akatsuki too long. It's time to face that man who controlled me to ruining the Mist Village's peace with the other Ninja Villages. It's time I faced him and destroyed him."

Gaara frowned slightly but didn't say anything. He didn't like the idea of Yagura joining them just to have revenge against one of the Akatsuki for using him. But he knew that this was the chance to make sure that the Akatsuki didn't get what they wanted.

"Maybe," Sen spoke up, making all look at her. "Maybe you're not doing it as in revenge, Yagura. Maybe you want to face the Akatsuki to protect Yukimaru. After all, you are brothers. You're family. Family really is all you've got." Her head lowered a little as a wave of sadness rose up in her eyes. The Sand Siblings, Rin and Chiro knew exactly what was going through her mind. They knew she was thinking about her long lost twin brother and how she wanted to find him.

Yagura considered her words for a moment before he dipped his head down and the curve his mouths lift up by the slightest. "You are very observent. You seen through my eyes with only the slightest glance." He said calmly before looking at Sen, who smiled brightly at him.

Gaara only seen a mere glance of Kankuro's face darkening and starting to pout. He had to grin to himself and shake his head.

A light groan caused everyone to turn with a jerk to look down at Yukimaru. Yagura was quickly at Rin's side, looking down at him with anticipation as he watched his older brother starting to stir. He stepped back though as Yukimaru groaned again before his eyes started to flicker open.

Rin smiled with Guren as they looked down at him, watching as his eyes squinted at the bright sun light starting to shine through the trees onto his face. "Well, welcome back, Yukimaru." The Leaf Medic stated.

Yukimaru stared up at her for a moment before looking very confused. He let his eyes flicker to Guren as she smiled at him before starting to lift his head. "Gur-Guren...I...I don't understand. I thought..." He was saying.

"It's okay, Yuki." Guren spoke softly. She shared a glance with Rin, frowning only a little before looking back at him. "While you were out, things got a little too crazy and the Leaf and Sand and Shadow helped me save your life." She lift her eyes towards Yagura as he moved back a few more feet, watching his brother. "And someone else. I think it's time that you both put aside your feelings and actually talked to one another instead of giving each other the silent treatment." She told both of the brothers.

For a moment, Yukimaru didn't understand. He just stared at her with confusion before turning his eyes in the direction of where she was looking. And when he saw Yagura standing there, his eyes shot open and he shot up into a sitting positon only to wince and groan as he slapped his hand against his head.

"Careful!" Rin said quickly touching his back. "You're still a little dazed from the hit that Kabuto gave you! You need to take things slow."

Yukimaru just grimaced before looking back at Yagura with surprise, who looked back a little forlorn. He couldn't believe his eyes though. He had never expected that he would ever see his brother again after all that they've been through. "Ya-Yagura?" He said in a surprised tone. "But I thought...I thought you were..."

Yagura frowned as he turned his violet eyes onto the ground before taking a step back. He still didn't meet his brother's eyes, almost looking ashamed that he had to face him. He was quiet for a long moment before he sighed. "I made you think that I was dead for a reason, Yukimaru. I abandoned you to protect you." He said calmly.

A flash of annoyance and anger flared up in Yukimaru's eyes before he grabbed a hold of Guren's arm and lift himself to his feet. "Abandoned me to protect me, Yagura? Abandonment is not protecting anyone! Do you know how long I've thought that you were dead inside of Sanbi? I thought you had died because you never answered my calls when I tried to speak to the Third Tail Turtle! Do you know how scared I was, thinking that you were gone?" He snapped at him.

Gaara frowned with his siblings but they didn't interupt at all. Even Rin, Sen and Chiro knew better than to say anything while the brothers had their little squabble.

Yagura just lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Yukimaru. He let those words beat on him for a moment before he finally lift his eyes and looked right at his brother. "If I did not leave you with Zabuza and made you think that I was dead, Yuki, that man who controlled me with his eyes would have used you to get to me." He said calmly surprising Yukimaru. It shut him up at least. "If he knew what you were to me, he would have hurt you in any way to get me to retaliate. He knew that if anything were to happen you, I would have went after him and he would have me."

Yukimaru just stared hard at him for a moment before shaking his head. "You could have told me." He said darkly.

Sighing, Yagura just shook his head and turned slightly away. He didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't think of a way to tell his brother of what he wanted to hear to make him not mad at him any more.

But Gaara did know what to say. He lift his head a little higher as he looked right at Yukimaru and stepped closer to get his attention. "Yukimaru," He began carefully. "Sometimes not revealing information works better. Yagura didn't tell you because he was trying to make you safe. Yes, you're the older brother. But he is a Jinchuriki and the former Mizukage. Kages do what they need to make sure that their people stay safe. Myself, I tried to sacrifice myself to keep my brother and my village safe. The Akatsuki had control of my home village and they had no problem attacking women and children just to get me distracted so they could take me down. They nearly destroyed the entire village to get me. And that's what your brother was trying to do. Do what he needed to do to make sure you stayed safe. He did it to save you because he wanted to protect you." He told Yukimaru.

For a long moment, Yukimaru didn't speak as he let Gaara's words settle in. He frowned slightly before lowering his head. He seemed to consider it for a moment before looking at Guren. "Guren?" He asked in a quiet tone.

Guren frowned as she considered what he was asking from her. She was quiet for a few minutes before looking over at Yagura, who looked back at her. But then she turned back to Yukimaru and nodded. "You forgave me for killing your mother, Yukimaru. I think you can forgive your brother for not telling you anything." She said gently.

"Mother?" Yagura finally asked, a little confused.

For the first time, Yukimaru smiled before looking back at him. He had actually smiled as if he didn't hate his brother any more. "She wasn't really mother, Yuki. She found me wandering around, starved and took me in. I was with her quite a few years, taking care of me. She helped me get involved with an onsen and that's how I was found by Guren and Kabuto. I thought of her as a mother and I even called her so. She was killed, though." He glanced to Guren who made a pained look. "Guren told me it was her who killed her. She had been ordered by Orochimaru to do it." He explained.

Gaara looked at Guren next, frowning. "Speaking of which, why is you are a follower of Orochimaru, yet you just helped us? Are you not going to attack us after knowing who we are now?" He asked quietly.

The woman spoken to looked back at him before shaking her head. She sighed heavily after doing so. "I was a follower of Orochimaru for years. I was his faithful follower because he promised me power as long as I could become his next vessel. But when he got involved with some kid called Uchiha, he turned his back on me, breaking his promise. And when he started using Yukimaru to get to the Third Tail Demon, I didn't like it. So I decided to turn my back on him. I never liked working with Kabuto and I had made complaints about him for years. But Orochimaru would never listen. I guess it just pissed me off that he chose Kabuto to be his right hand when he could have used me instead." She told him.

"So, what now?" Kankuro asked, looking around at everyone. "We can't stay here too long. Who knows if the Akatsuki caught scent of that pretty big blow out that Gaara just did with Sanbi. They will be here soon if we don't get going. And who knows what they're doing now?"

"Plus we still have my brother to find." Sen added, grimacing when everyone looked at her. She just shrugged. "I've got to find my twin brother. It's going to drive me nuts if I can't. It's either him or my uncle that we've got to deal with. And we did make a deal with you, Gaara."

Gaara just nodded once as he looked back at Yagura. "Yes. We did. And you upheld your end of the bargain. So we will help you locate your twin brother. As I told Rin the day before, I think I know where he is." He looked back at Sen when she gasped in surprise. He saw Temari and Kankuro frown and look at one another. "I'm talking about Sai. He resembles Sen's brother. And we know nothing about him. We don't know where he's actually from or his real name. He could be this Sei Zangetsu for all we know."

Kankuro shrugged, making a face and folding his arms across his chest. "Ya got a point. I don't even think Pasty ass knows who he really is." He grunted.

"Pasty ass?" Sen and Chiro both asked at the same time and looking skeptical.

Snorting and raising an eyebrow at them, Kankuro shook his head. "Wait till you see this guy. You'll know what I mean. He's white as hell. I don't think he gets out in the sun very much. He's emotionless as hell too. So I think that the old fart, Danzo did a number on him while he's had him in his underground Root thing." He told them.

Rin just shrugged. "We'll see this Sai when we get back to the Leaf Village. But for now, what shall we do?" She asked, looking at Gaara.

Gaara, however, turned his eyes onto Yagura again. He still didn't know what the Third Tail's intentions were. For all he knew, they might just go their seperate ways. Yagura could just have came out of his demon shell just to save his brother and then hold no alliance with them. "Yagura, what are you planning on to do now that you've came back out of Sanbi? Will you come with us to Konohagakure and help us with the Akatsuki?"

Yagura turned his eyes onto Yukimaru and Guren for a moment, who were both watching him. He studied them for a moment before looking back at Gaara. "Yes. I will be coming with you. I think it's time to take care of this threat facing us, the Jinchuriki, before they do something drastic. Like, kill Yukimaru to piss me off for one." He looked back at Yukimaru. "Yukimaru, I would prefer if you came with us to the Leaf Village. You would be safer with me than staying here in the Land of Hot Water. But it's your choice." He told her.

Sighing, Yukimaru looked directly at Guren, somewhat torn between her and his brother. He wasn't sure what he wanted but he was sure of one thing. "I'm not leaving Guren's side. She has been with me for a few years and has been the closest thing I've ever had as a friend. Where she goes, I will go." He told his younger brother.

It was Guren's turn to sigh as she touched her chin thoughtfully. She was like that for a moment before looking at Yagura. "I will go where Yukimaru goes. I've appointed myself as his body guard and I will stick to that. So if he chooses to go with you, then my crystals are at your service, Mizukage-sama." She told him. And she shared a smile with Yukimaru, seeing that he liked that idea. She turned her eyes onto Gaara and frowned again. "That is, if you don't object."

Gaara frowned before sharing a look with his brother and sister, then to the Shadoai. He was asking them with his eyes of what they might say. He may have been the Kazekage but it was their feelings about Guren that he cared more about.

"The more, the merrier." Sen was the first one to say and Chiro nodded as well. Rin also nodded, agreeing with both of them.

"Then, we have no problem." Gaara stated as he looked back at Guren.

Yagura nodded as he stood right next to Yukimaru, with Guren on the other side. "Then shall we get going before the Akatsuki do show up? Though, I really do hope we run into them. It'll give me something to do as a warning to that Madara man." He stated.

Gaara nodded. "We shall. Let's move out and head back for Konoha. We'll need to send the Sand Village a message as soon as we get back. I want them to put out patrol towers on the borders to keep an eye out for the Akatsuki. I won't put it past them to attack again just to get my attention. But I would rather check on Naruto first before going back to Suna." He told his siblings, who nodded in agreement.

And they began to journey back.

Of course, on the far side of the lake, two pairs of watching eyes had seen everything. And it was clear that neither of them were happy that there were two Jinchuriki together. The Clay Bomber wanted nothing more than just to attack the two and see if he could hit two birds with one clay bomb. But with his idiot of a partner, Deidara knew that something would go wrong.

But after reporting in with the Akatsuki Leader, the Clay Bomber didn't get the answer he wanted.

"No, Deidara. Let them go. One Jinchuriki might be one thing. But two, that's asking too much." A staticky and distorted voice spoke to Deidara. "Get back to Headquarters. We have much planning to do."

Sighing in irritation and frustration, Deidara tapped his comlink in his ear. "Roger that, Leader. Tobi and I are heading back now. TOBI! You better not be sleeping again!" He snapped when he spied the spoken person slumped against a tree, looking like he was snoozing.

What he didn't see was the glaring red eye through the one eye hole. Someone was not happy at all.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

Her eyes closed, she was listening to the sounds of the trees and the wind blowing through their leaves. It was quite peaceful there and she enjoyed the sounds and the smells and even the warm breeze that blew across her caramel colored skin. She could hear song birds singing their luscious melodies, almost welcoming her to their part of the woods. It was so nice to hear.

That is until she heard the single sound of many blades slicing through the air.

Eyes snapping open and a wide smile curled across her pretty face, Yugito Nii moved as quickly as she could, flipping over her head and to her feet as a line of kunai and shruiken landed right where she had been sitting. She had to keep moving to avoid Tenten's weapons coming at her. She flipped backwards several times and even had to twist and turn to avoid the sharp bits of metal coming at her.

Not one hit her, much to her satisfaction and putting a crinkle on Tenten's face as she failed to hit her. It was not something that she was used to, though she didn't actually want to hit Yugito.

With a jerk of her head, though, Yugito turned sharply to see a black and white blur coming at her before she brought up her arm to deflect the punch that Neji was sending at her. They both smirked at one another before they became blurs of their own, swinging at one another and moving so quickly that it was almost hard to see their fists and feet. They stood as a match for one another and all they could do was smirk at one another.

"ARGH!"

Both Yugito Nii and Neji's heads jerked up to see the green blur now interrupting, causing both to leap backwards as fast as they could to avoid getting hit. It was now Rock Lee's turn to take on Yugito.

Smirking at her newly made best friend, Yugito leapt forward to meet Lee's challenge and they exchanged a fury of fists and kicks to one another. More than once did the Two Tailed Jinchuriki have to twist and dance away to avoid getting hit by Lee's powerful kick. She knew very well that he was pulling most of them, not wanting to hurt her. She would have been angry if it were anyone else but it being Lee, she didn't care. She had never felt this way about anyone now that she felt for him. He was her new best friend under Killer Bee and it made her feel honored to even know him.

Since the mission in the Land of Waves and returning to the Fire Country, there had been a few short pauses during the journey home did Team Guy stop with Yugito just to train with her. They had wanted to see what she was incapable of and they were satisfied to learn that she was extremely talented with Taijutsu. It was basically her strongest ability. She had openly admitted to them that it had been Killer Bee who taught her everything she knew when it came to hand to hand.

It only drove Might Guy to want to challenge Killer Bee to a sparring match when or if they ever got to meet him.

Of course, Yugito Nii just smiled and warned him to be careful of what he wished for. She explained to Guy that Killer Bee was the strongest Taijutsu artist that she knew. It still drove Guy to determination to test that theory.

Either way, Yugito Nii and Team Guy were enjoying their selves with their training together and it satisfied each of the Leaf Ninja to know how strong their new team mate was. They openly told, including Neji, that they were honored to have her as a new companion and friend. It was enough to make Yugito feel extremely confident in herself.

After finishing their training session, Team Guy and Yugito sat down for a lunch break and breather. The Two Tailed Jinchuriki was sitting with Tenten though, watching Lee as he downed an entire canteen of water. She knew that she was staring but she couldn't really help it. She had never felt the way she did now for anyone. She knew that a lot of people might question her about her feelings for someone who looked like Rock Lee, but she knew very well that if anyone insulted her friend's looks, she would probably come unglued with them.

And heaven helped that person if the time ever came.

"You really like Lee, don't you?" Tenten asked in a quiet tone, almost directly into Yugito's ear.

Yugito felt her face flush as she looked wide eyed at the Weapon Specialist, who was smiling knowingly at her. She knew that her face must have darkened but all she could do was shake her head and look away at the ground. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tenten!" She said, quickly taking a drink out of her canteen.

Tenten smirked at her and shook her head. "Uh-huh. I'm sure you don't. Just admit it, Yugito. You like him." She told her still quietly. Still, the young Jinchuriki refused to look at her or even agree with her at all. So the Weapons Specialist shrugged and leaned back on her palms. "Okay. Whatever you say. I can't really see why you'd like him anyway. He's always looked weird and he's so weird, himself. I can see why you don't like him." She said, trying to goad her.

Her head jerking around and glaring at Tenten, Yugito couldn't help but ball up a threatening fist. "Don't you dare talk about him like that! You don't have a clue what you're talking about! He's brilliant! I don't care what he…..looks….." She winced when she saw the smirk on Tenten's face before her face fell. "You just used reverse psychology on me didn't you?"

"Yup!" Tenten said cheerfully.

Yugito groaned, her head falling very low. She really hoped that Rock Lee hadn't heard that. She would have died if he had. But with a glance over, she noticed that he was talking enthusiastically with Guy while Neji was smirking in her direction. So he obviously heard their conversation.

Again, the Two Tailed Firecat groaned, listening to Tenten and even Nekomatta snicker to their selves.

"Okay, okay. I guess I do like Lee. So what of it? He's the most amazing person I've ever met. And he's the first person, other than Killer Bee to tell me that I'm not hideous. He hasn't even cringed away from Nekomatta like most people would have." Yugito groaned quietly.

Tenten merely smiled and shook her head as she leaned over to the dark skinned girl and leaned against her shoulder. "Don't worry. Lee's like that. And I know he really likes you. And I'm really glad that you two are getting along so well. Lee is really great and he'll take care of you. And I'm really glad you like him. It takes a lot off my mind to know that he might have just found someone." She whispered to her.

Yugito gave her a curious look, tilting her head to the side like a curious kitten. "Why do you say that?" She asked quietly.

"Well," Tenten began carefully. She tilted her head up to look at the blue sky with a thoughtful look on her face. "Lee had this really big crush on a fellow Leaf Ninja of ours. Sakura Haruno. He liked her for years but she never felt the same way. It kind of hurt him for a little while until she started liking Gaara of the Sand. He was a little disappointed that she wouldn't like him back but he liked the idea that she liked Gaara. If anyone really deserves love, it's him. He's never had it at all almost his entire life. Still," She shrugged again. "Now that he's moving on from Sakura, I really hope that something does happen between you two. You two are actually kind of cute together." She told her new friend with a smile.

Yugito's face flushed with embarrassment but she couldn't help but smile a little sheepishly as she looked down at the ground. She wasn't sure if she would be good for Lee, due to her demon. But she felt like if she could be with him, her life would never be the same.

And that was probably a good thing.

"I don't want to hurt him. If the Akatsuki did ever manage to get a hold of me….." Yugito was saying.

Tenten shook her head as she reached over and patted her arm. "Don't worry. They won't. You're with us now. We won't let anything happen to you. And I know that Gaara and Naruto wouldn't either. They've sworn to make sure that none of the Jinchuriki ever has to face what Gaara did. They will die fighting for you and the others." She told her.

Somewhat forlorn, Yugito shook her head as she reached up and ran a hand through her thick violet colored hair. "That's what I'm afraid of." She then looked at Tenten with determination. "I won't let any of them get hurt either. I will fight for the other Jinchuriki too. And Lee and you guys." She told her with determination. Then she got a bright eyed look as she glanced towards Neji. "Hey, I'm going to see if I can sneak up on Neji." She whispered.

Snorting, Tenten shook her head as she leaned closer to Yugito. "Okay. But just so you know, he can basically see through the back of his head. It's not easy sneaking up on him." She whispered right back.

Yugito nodded with a grin on her face before she quietly got to her feet, yet stayed in a crouch. Carefully crawling towards Neji, not making a sound, her grin turned into a serious looking smile as she zeroed in on him.

"Don't even think about it." Neji finally spoke without even turning to look at her.

Immediately, Yugito pouted, not even glancing at Tenten as she began to roll on the ground with laughter. She was obviously not amused at all while everyone else was. But with a smirk, she charged anyway, causing Neji to swirl around to meet her challenge, not quite amused that she was even taking the risk of starting up a sparring match with him again.

Suddenly, before Yugito could even engage with Neji again, her eyes snapped wide open as her senses kicked in and she screeched to a halt and leapt back just as a blur came down at her. She had moved just in time to avoid getting hit by the blades coming at her. She had to flip over several times as many kunai came flying at her before she stopped in a crouch several feet away from Team Guy, who were all on their feet and looking ready for whatever fight that came there way. But to their surprise, several blurs came out of the trees all around them and they were all ANBU Black Ops. They were all looking at Yugito as if she was a threat. Each ANBU had their weapons out, ready to attack her, while she stayed crouched low to the ground, growling at them. They didn't even seem to care that hot steam was starting to drift right off of the violet haired Kunoichi while her eyes seemed to spark up flames.

However, before any of the ANBU could move to attack her, the four members of Team Guy moved quickly to stand all around her, looking ready to fight their fellow Leaf Ninja in defense of their new team mate.

"Hold it, all of you." Guy said from behind Yugito, defending her backside from the ANBU behind her. "That won't be necessary, gentlemen. She is not an enemy ninja."

The ANBU standing all around them still looked very tense as they eyed Yugito with suspicion and distaste. They did not believe Guy for one second that she was not an enemy. One of the ANBU even stepped forward and pointed at Yugito with his kunai. "Might Guy, how could you say that's not an enemy? That is a Cloud Ninja! As far as I know, we've never had a friendship with the Hidden Cloud Village! She could be a spy for all we know!" He said in a very dark way. "As it is, the Cloud Ninja were never pardoned from the Hyuuga clan for what they had done to them!"

Neji frowned at the sound of his voice before stepping forward and shaking his head. "If there is any Hyuuga that should hate the Cloud Ninja more, it should be myself and not you, Tokuma." He said rather coldly. "It was my father who was killed by them, not yours. But I have found my peace with this Cloud Ninja and so far, she represents all of her village. She's come to make peace with us and join us in the fight against the Akatsuki."

The ANBU were no doubt surprised by his words but not as surprised as Yugito and Team Guy were as they glanced at Neji, wondering how he knew that certain ANBU. They looked even more surprised when the ANBU moved forward a step and removed his animalistic mask to reveal that he looked similar to Neji. He was much older, of course. But he had the traditional pearly white eyes of the Byakugan. And he was not looking as pleasant as Neji was for Yugito. "Neji, the Cloud Ninja were the ones who killed your father and you swore that you would never forgive them for it. And now you protect one of them. Who is this blasted Cloud Ninja that makes you change your mind? By the rights of the Hyuuga clan, she should be sentenced to death for even stepping foot on the Land of Fire!" He growled viciously.

All of Team Guy frowned at him but Rock Lee shook his head as he stepped forward in front of Yugito to protect her. "She is Yugito Nii and she is the Two Tailed Jinchuriki! She deserves more respect than you are giving her!" He scolded.

Tenten nodded as she gripped her weapon scrolls tightly in her hand. "That's right! She's helped us a lot during our mission! I will not have you speaking to her like she's a criminal when she's done that much!" She snapped angrily.

Yugito had to smile faintly to both of her friends for standing up for her. She didn't think she would ever be more grateful as she was now to them. Some of the ANBU were even starting to relax when Guy set a hand on the Cloud Ninja's shoulder to show that they had friendship between them.

But the ANBU, Tokuma Hyuuga was not one who grew relaxed. He actually looked more angry and even started to take a step forward, looking threatening. "I will not have that Cloud Ninja near the Hyuuga Clan, Neji! Your uncle, the Head of the Clan will not stand for it!" He snapped before moving forward to attack Yugito, who tensed up just like everyone else did.

But before Tokuma could even move another step to attack, a strong gloved hand lashed out of a sudden cloud of smoke and yanked him backwards while another smaller hand snatched the kunai right out of his hand. "That will be enough, Tokuma Hyuuga!" The harsh voice of Ibiki Morino snapped as the smoke drifted away to reveal him and Anko Mitarashi. They were both glaring at the spoken ANBU before turning to look at Yugito, who looked just as surprised as everyone else did. Both of them eventually smirked at her, looking amused. "As it is, if she really is a Jinchuriki, you attack her, you're not only going to have our two Jinchuriki on your back, but the Lady Tsunade as well. She's made it very clear to all that we're making peace with them so we can protect them from the Akatsuki." The rough Head of the ANBU squad shot Tokuma a look when he started to protest. "Do you really want to anger both Gaara and Naruto for attacking one of their fellow Jinchuriki?" He snapped.

Tokuma, however, shut up. He seemed to know exactly what he meant by warning him that.

So once again, Ibiki turned to face Yugito before walking towards her. He glanced at Guy, who nodded and stepped back with Lee and Tenten. They were taking a chance by letting Yugito face the harsh ANBU Head. "So, you're the Two Tailed Firecat of the Lightning. Well, either way, welcome to the Land of Fire, Yugito Nii. I'm glad to see that you haven't been captured by the Akatsuki. That is our primary goal right now." He told her, offering her a respectful bow of the head.

Yugito finally smiled and bowed low in return to him. She was just glad that he wasn't going to attack her like Tokuma Hyuuga had. "Thank you, sir." She told him. "I've come to help protect the Jinchuriki. Even if it means breaking a long term hatred between our villages, I will do what's necessary."

Ibiki nodded with a smile before it vanished and he looked directly at Guy with a serious look. "Actually, Guy. You're return to us couldn't more perfect. I'm afraid to tell you this but," He paused for a moment, giving them all the idea that something serious had happened. "But Asuma Saturobi has been killed in battle with the Akatsuki."

Within that second, all of Team Guy froze with shock. And even Yugito had to frown in alarm. Especially to hear that someone was killed in battle with the Akatsuki. She didn't know who this Asuma was, but he obviously meant something to her friends just by seeing the horrified looks on their faces.

"What? Asuma is dead?" Tenten gasped, her hands slapping over her mouth as tears prickled her eyes.

Guy frowned, now looking very serious and not so cheerful as he usually did. The situation was calling for it as it was. "How did Asuma die? When did it happen?" He asked sternly.

Ibiki just shook his head, looking just as serious. He didn't like telling this to them, knowing how they would take it. But they needed to know. "Three days ago, we got a message from the Fire Temple that two of the Akatsuki had attacked them and stolen the body of one of the Guardian Priests. Apparently he was an old friend of Asuma's, serving as a Guardian with him. Therfore, Asuma lead a four man team; himself, Shikamaru Nara, Kotetsu and Izumo to track down the Akatsuki and take back the body." He shook his head again, looking grave. "According to Shikamaru, they fought pretty hard against at least one of the Akatsuki but they did not succeed. It wasn't a good battle at all because the Nara kid said that Asuma had actually sliced the Akatsuki's head right off his shoulders. But…" He was saying.

"He still lived." Yugito spoke, almost breathlessly. She was already starting to get the idea of what Akatsuki had killed the Leaf Ninja. She didn't need any clues at all. It just came to her. "The Akatsuki member didn't die at all."

Everyone looked at her in surprise but Ibiki nodded as he just looked at her with a grave look. "That's right. According to Shikamaru Nara, the Akatsuki called himself Hidan and he claimed to be an Immortal. No matter what damaged was done to him, it was done right back to Asuma. Eventually a stab to his own stomach, Asuma was the one who took the damage." He paused to tilt his head to the side, looking gravely curious at the Two Tail. "You sound as if you know these two."

Yugito's face darkened at the thought of the two Akatsuki who attacked her village was attacking this one. She felt Nekomatta even starting to growl, causing herself to do so. "Oh, yes. I know those two. If I'm guessing right, the one called Hidan, took on some kind of witch doctor look or something. He fights with a huge scythe and the other with millions of sharp threads, correct?" She received a nod. "Then they are the same who attacked my village to retrieve me. They nearly destroyed my village just to capture me but I managed to fake my own death to get them to stop." She nearly bared her teeth, which seemed to sharpen as her eyes blazed furiously. "They threatened my Raikage for me and I don't even know if they took Killer Bee, who is the Eighth Tail Jinchuriki. I have a personal score to settle with these two and I tend to take it." She growled.

"Be careful with what you say, Yugito Nii." Anko said, her arms folded across her chest and looking lazily at the Two Tail. "The Akatsuki has proven to be really tough so far. And they did wipe out Asuma, who was a really tough Leaf Ninja."

Yugito merely shrugged as she looked just as lazily at Anko as she did for herself. "Well, I'm a tough ninja, myself. And do tend to make them pay." She glanced over at Ibiki. "Where are these two, anyway?" She asked.

Ibiki just frowned and shook his head as he looked at Guy. "Well, it'd be crazy to go after them, since you are their goal anyway. But this morning, Kakashi Hatake is leading Team 10 to hunt the two Akatsuki down. Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi tried taking off on their own but they got caught by the Fifth Hokage. She nearly made them stay in the village until Hatake took over and offered to lead the team. I have no idea where they've gone and that's why we're out patrolling the forests. I don't like it though. By the sounds of these two criminals, they're suppose to be Immortals. And from what I heard, it was tough for you lot," He nodded to Team Guy. "And Team 7 to take down at least four Akatsuki when they tried tearing the Shukaku out of Gaara. And they weren't even Immortal." He stated.

Guy just nodded as he looked thoughtfully away, along with Neji. "True. Fighting Itachi Uchiha and Kisame what's-his-face was pretty hard. They were both very strong opponents. And then that blonde guy, what was his name?" He asked, frowning.

"Ugh! It was Kisame Hoshigaki and Deidara, Guy-sensei!" Tenten said impatiently. She looked over at Yugito with that said. "They got a point. If you're going after those two that killed Asuma, then we're going to back you up."

Yugito only smiled and nodded. She felt grateful for her words and even more so when Lee nodded with a grin and Neji just dipped his head into a nod without smiling. She looked at Ibiki again, raising an eyebrow. "So, where are they headed?" She asked, coyly.

Again, Ibiki frowned and shook his head. "I just told you, young one. I don't know yet. That's why we're looking for them." He growled at her.

Shrugging, Yugito sighed and shook her head before she turned away from him and closed her eyes. She figured it was time to count on Nekomatta for that bit of information. 'Nekomatta? Can you stretch out your senses and try to locate them?' She thought to her demon.

'This will be tough, kitten. But I remember those two Akatsuki's scent. So I'll try that. Give me one moment.' Nekomatta purred to her before she stretched out her power, trying to pick up the scent.

And because it was her Bijuu doing it, Yugito felt her power stretching out far and wide as far as a hundred mile radius. She wasn't as acute to it but she could sense quite a bit of life through Nekomatta. She took a deep breath and let her senses all connect with Nekomatta's. For a moment, they both got nothing. But a moment later, they sensed a pretty strong bit of Chakra from the west. Yugito could sense that a pretty big fight going on in that direction and she knew it had to be the two Akatsuki fighting the Leaf Ninja. She certainly could tell that it was the two Akatsuki that attacked her village. She recognized that eerie feeling of death that had come off the Voodooist one.

"I found them." Yugito stated, her eyes snapping open and looking at the others, who did look a little surprised to hear that. She looked right at Lee, Tenten and Neji though, turning slightly away from them. "I'm going right now."

"Hey, wait a minute." Anko tried to interrupt, frowning sternly. "You're a Jinchuriki! You're what they're after! You'll be walking right into their hands if you go after them!"

Yugito merely glanced at her, a sly smile on her face as she turned nearly fully away from everyone in the direction she felt the battle coming from. "I know. But there is one upside to all of this." She smirked when Anko and Ibiki both gave her a questionable look. She just shrugged innocently as if it wasn't even a big deal. "They think I'm dead. They won't know I'm coming." She announced before she turned and bolted.

Immediately, Lee, Tenten and Neji were hurrying after her.

"Geez. She sure is brash. Reminds me of that blondie that Bloody Bob hangs out with." Anko grumbled, folding her arms.

Ibiki just chuckled before looking around at everyone in the clearing, including Guy. "Yes. Yes, she is. I think I might just like her. We better go with them and make sure that the Akatsuki doesn't get a hold of her. Everyone move out!" He ordered. And with that said, all of the ANBU began running through the trees after the young Jinchuriki and the young Leaf Ninja.

Merely glancing over her shoulder, Yugito almost smiled to see her small army right behind her. She had to give Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji a grateful smile for backing her up on this. They each gave her a nod to let her know that they were with her all the way while she faced her village's attackers. They knew that she had every right to face these two Akatsuki for what they had done to her village.

It was not long at all before they reached the battle field, which they heard the sounds of it before they saw it. There were explosions going off all over the place as they soon arrived in time to see a rather eerie looking Ninja attacking Naruto Uzumaki who had just used his Rasengan on him.

Yugito had immediately recognized the sharp thread wielding Akatsuki member from her village. He was pretty torn up from his fight with Team 10 and Team 7, much to the young Two Tail's satisfaction. His black and red cloak had been torn to shreds and was discarded far away from him while he had at least millions of threads pouring out of three spots on his back. What surprised Yugito and everyone else was each of the three towers of threads had some kind of strange mask on the end. One extra hole in his back revealed that he had had four of them but it seemed that it had been destroyed already.

So clearly, that was what Teams 7 and 10 were aiming for.

Right at the moment, the three remaining masked threads were moving in to attack the rambunctious blonde, who had fallen to one knee from exhausting himself. He was breathing rather hard and glaring furiously at the attacking Akatsuki, daring him to attack him. His rather fiery red eyes were narrowed dangerously as he was trying to push himself back to his feet.

"NARUTO!" A pink haired Kunoichi cried out and started to move forward to help her blonde friend before he could get hurt.

However, it was so sudden that a burst of flames and whisps of dark smoke erupted right between Naruto and that Akatsuki that stopped her. No one had seen Yugito move because it was so swift and precise. She was already in the middle of the attacking, surrounded by flames and sending them crashing against one of the towers of threads, burning them through until they hit the Akatsuki, Kakazu's back.

Everyone nearly stopped in surprise and shock to see this dark violet haired Kunoichi just appear out of nowhere. Even Naruto was staring up at her with alarm as she stood over him with flames dancing all around her. He, like his companions, did not know her at all.

But Kakazu sure did. His eyes widened in surprise before they darkened again in recognition. He did not need to think twice about who Yugito was. "You." He growled darkly at her. "So, you did survive that fall after all."

Yugito glared right back at him, not even glancing at Naruto as he climbed to his feet and stared wide eyed at her. She just dipped her head down, letting her eyes flicker to the side as Team Guy quickly jumped down into the clearing, surprising the others. But either way, she kept her eyes on her true enemy, glaring hatefully at him. She didn't even bother to glance over her shoulder at Naruto when he exclaimed, "HEY! You're on fire!" He whirled around and looked at Team Guy before the gray haired Leaf Ninja who looked worst for wear. "Kakashi-sensei! Quick! She's on fire! Put it out before she burns to death!"

Nearly everyone sweat dropped, minus Kakazu and Yugito, who were still having quite the glaring contest. It was obvious to everyone else that the flames around the Cloud Kunoichi were coming from her in the first place.

"Naruto," Neji sighed, shaking his head. "She's the one controlling the fire."

Naruto just looked confused and alarmed at the same time but he turned back when the Akatsuki stood up straighter, letting his threads just hover all around him. "Of course she's the one controlling the flames. She is the Two Tailed fire-ghost Cat after all. Her elemental ability is fire." He glared even harder at Yugito, who kept up the same glare. "You have caused us quite the trouble, Cat."

Yugito finally smirked coldly at him, though she could almost sense the surprised looks she was getting from Teams 7 and 10. She could already hear the wheels turning in Naruto's head as he was letting the words sink into his brain. "Good, Akatsuki scum. You attacked my village, threatened my Raikage and my best friend, and now you think you're going to get away with extracting the Tailed Beasts from Jinchuriki. This, Akatsuki, is not what I'm going to allow. From this day on, and take note of it, I'm going to join Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara of the Sand to protecting my kin from you scummy criminals!" She snapped. "Now, where is your partner? I made a promise that I would cut his head off and burn it to nothing."

Kakazu just snorted and shook his head as he stood up straighter, letting his strange thread masks just hover right above him, not yet attacking. He just nodded in another direction, as if replying to her. "Hidan was taken in that direction by the Shadow Manipulator to be dealt with. But I pity the fool who took him. He does not know what he is getting himself into. It is impossible to kill Hidan. He will die before they day is through." He dipped his head down a little lower, glaring at Yugito. "As for you, since you have returned, I think I should complete the mission we failed. Even if we were sent here for the Nine Tails. You will be an easier target than him." He growled before lashing out both of his remaining threads towards her.

Yugito snapped to attention, her eyes narrowing but she didn't bother to look at her three new friends as they quickly joined her to face the oncoming threat. Even Naruto was snapping into a defensive stance right behind them, looking ready to fight with them against this Akatsuki.

However, before the threads could even approach them, a wall of sand suddenly sprang up and let the masks smash against it, stopping them from attacking the five young Ninja.

Quite surprised, everyone stared at the wall before Naruto's eyes brightened with Team Guy's as they turned around only to see Gaara suddenly appear in a cloud of Sand along with Temari and Kankuro. Right behind them were several others, though they didn't really notice the woman somewhat hiding behind the large scimitar wielding Shadow Ninja.

"What?" Kakazu exclaimed, looking around before his eyes lit up to see Gaara and the young looking Mizukage standing right next to him.

"Gaara!" Both Naruto and Sakura cried out cheerfully.

Gaara did not meet their eyes as he looked coldly right at the Akatsuki, along with the youth right next to him. He just dipped his head down low with his arms folded across his chest as he withdrew his sand a little. He had only just arrived with his entire group but sensing the fight in this particular part of the forest, he had decided to investigate. And seeing that there was an Akatsuki member there, he knew what was happening. The Akatsuki had probably showed up to take Naruto.

Kakazu, however, growled as he looked around. He knew it was starting to get very dangerous with this many Leaf, Sand and even Mist ninja. He even recognized the symbols of the Shadow Ninja and they weren't even known that much to anyone. But he knew that it wouldn't matter if he decided to run or not. There was no way he was going to get very far.

"Hmm. Looks like you are pinned." The not so well Kakashi said as he climbed to one foot and looking right at the Akatsuki. "You would do better just to surrender yourself and allow us to take you prisoner, Kakazu."

Kakazu gave him a very cold look before his body began to shake and tremble. A high density of Chakra began to rise as his sides seemed to burst from threads, spilling millions more out into the open. They waved in the air like millions of arms, starting to fly through the air to attack.

"Well, seeing that this guy is taken care of, I'm going after the other one." Yugito said turning slightly away. She only paused when Lee placed a hand onto her shoulder and she turned to look at him. She could only smile when he looked concerned but she shook her head. "It's okay, Lee. I promise, I'm coming back. I'll be all right. But I really need to do this. It's for my village." She told him.

Lee finally smiled and nodded as he offered a thumbs up. "I know, Yugito. I just wanted to wish you good luck." He told her.

Yugito smiled, ignoring some of the surprised looks that she and Lee had gotten from the others. She just nodded, looking to Neji and Tenten, who both nodded to let her know that they were wishing her good luck too. Smiling, she turned and started to hurry away. It was only when the Akatsuki made to attack her from behind did she turn sharply and glare fiercely at him.

But before Kakazu could attack Yugito, Tenten snatched up her weapons scroll and snapped it open to send out a wave of weapons at the Akatsuki. Neji and Lee were both very quick to getting behind some of the flying kunai and shruiken, hitting them hard so that they would fly faster to slicing through the threads that were starting to attack their friend. To everyone's surprise, one blade that Lee had hit flew fast right into one of the masks, shattering it.

"ARGH!" Kakazu exclaimed in pain as he fell to one knee while the lump of threads fell into wispy threads, lifeless and un-moving.

"No one," Lee said rather seriously, surprising quite a few that were used to his cheerful stature. "Will ever…"

"Hurt our….." Tenten added.

"Friend." Neji finished very darkly.

Kakazu growled as he looked threateningly at the three who had just destroyed one of his masks. He was not amused one bit and it was going to take every inch of him to destroy all of them. "Four hearts. So many choices." He growled. "I think I'll take my four new hearts from the Four Jinchuriki!"

Everyone who didn't know about Kakazu's power blinked in surprise but everyone else were tensing up as Kakazu was preparing his next range of attacks with his millions of sharp threads. Gaara, however, quickly looked at Yagura next to him as he glared at the Akatsuki. "Yagura," He spoke calmly catching the Three Tails' attention. "My former mentor, Kakashi, he has lightening abilities. How about you two combine forces to finish this once and for all?"

Yagura just blinked once before he smirked and nodded as he looked directly at the spoken person, who hadn't heard yet. "Kakashi Hatake," He called over, catching the Copy Ninja's attention. "Toast him." He then snapped his hands together, forming a few signs with his hands before he opening up his mouth and spewed out gallons of water. With quick hands, he grabbed control of the water and sent it crashing against Kakazu, taking him by surprise.

Kakashi, however, had figured out what the young boy had meant before smirking under his mask. He formed the quick signs before lashing out one hand. "Lightning Blade!" He yelled out before turning into a electric blue blur and charging at Kakazu, who whirled around in surprise.

It was too late for Kakazu to defend himself for Kakashi's Lightning Blade struck his remaining heart mask, smashing it to bits. And because of the water coating him, the pain was intensified.

"ARGHHH!" Kakazu exclaimed from pain before he fell backwards and hit the ground with a thump. He did not move or breath again as his last heart beat its last.

Soon it was quiet as everyone just stood there. Yugito had already left, hurrying to find Shikamaru and Hidan, leaving all of the others just standing there, watching as Kakashi stood above the no doubt dead Akatsuki member. He wasn't looking too good, unfortunately. He was slumped over, breathing too hard to show that he had been strained greatly.

After a moment of defeating Kakazu, Kakashi felt the strain finally hitting him, causing him to groan and start to fall forward, too tired to catch himself.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Both Naruto and Sakura gasped starting to take a step forward to catch his fall.

But someone beat them too it.

Arms quickly caught Kakashi around the chest, stopping him from falling on his face and holding him up as best as they could. He didn't recognize the clothes that the person was wearing, though he figured that it was a woman due to her small frame. She was holding him up as best as she could, swooping under his arm to keep him steady. "Careful, Kakashi. You've overstrained yourself and the Sharingan. You really need to stop doing that. It might kill you some day. And I would hate for that to happen, my old friend." She said softly.

Kakashi stiffened against his support. He recognized that voice, though it did sound a little different from all of those years. He took it slow to lifting his head to look right into Rin Hayashi's eyes, who was smiling softly at him. He could not believe his eyes at all. "Wh-what?" He murmured in alarm. "Ri-Rin?"

Rin just merely smiled at him, ignoring the shocked looks on Guy's and anyone else's face that recognized her. "Hello, Kakashi. It's been awhile." Was all she could say as she supported her former team mate.

It did not take Yugito long at all to track down the two she had gone looking for. She had only had to listen to the pained cry that was only just up ahead and it didn't take her long to arrive in a part of the forest that was quite near the Leaf Village. She stopped abruptly in the trees and stared at the large pit sitting before her with the Akatsuki member dangling above it with binding cords tied from tree to tree. There were explosive tags all over the cords. The Akatsuki was the same one that Yugito knew from her last day in her village. She recognized his boyish good looks and extremely foul mouth language he was sprouting as he was yanking at the cords that were wrapped around his arms and legs. He was starting to get loose too with all of his struggling.

Near the edge of the pit, a young Leaf Ninja with a pineapple shaped hair style was struggling to get the lighter in his hand lit. He was obviously Shikamaru Nara and he was trying to lit one of the explosive tags to blow the Akatsuki member up. But the lighter seemed to be running low on fuel because no matter how much he struck it, the flame would not come out.

Smirking, Yugito knew what to do. She knew how to reveal herself and she seriously couldn't wait to see the look on Hidan's face when she stepped out of the trees. Hopping down from the branch, she was very quiet until she stepped out from behind the tree. "Hi there. Looks like you need a light." She simply said.

Startled, Shikamaru whirled around, grabbing a kunai from his pouch while Hidan's head merely jerked up. But both froze at the sight of the young Cloud Ninja that had just appeared. "Huh?" the young Leaf Ninja hummed.

Hidan, however, looked stunned to see her. He obviously recognized her and wasn't expecting to ever see her again. He had certainly thought that she was dead all of this time. "Hey! It's you, you little bit…!" He was starting to yell at her, sounding quite angry to see her.

Giving him a cold smile, Yugito held up a hand and a ball of flames exploded in her palm. She smirked even colder when Hidan immediately shut up while looking wide eyed at her. "What did I tell you the last time we met, Akatsuki scum?" She asked coldly before lowering her hand and touched the end of Shikamaru's lighter, allowing it to light, much to his surprise. "I'm not a dog. I'm a cat." She looked to Shikamaru and waved a hand for him go first. "After you." She said coyly.

Blinking only once, Shikamaru finally smirked as he pushed himself to his feet and lit one of the explosion tags, causing a slight chain reaction.

The explosion only intensified when Yugito flung her ball of flames into it, causing Hidan to scream with pain as he burned in the center. She only watched with a very grim but determined look as he burned before falling into the pit when the cords were burned through. She stepped closer to the pit to look down at the mess at the bottom. Hidan was sure yelling a lot of choice words about what he was going to do to her and Shikamaru when he got out of that pit.

Without even a word, Shikamaru bent down on the edge of the pit and lit up a few more explosive tags before grabbing Yugito's arm and making her step back. Without even a pause, the tags exploded and caused the pit to cave in, burying Hidan under nearly twenty feet of dirt and mud.

For a long time, both of the two young Ninja just stood there, staring at the mound of dirt which served as Hidan's grave, not saying a word.

After a moment, Shikamaru turned to Yugito and raised an eyebrow before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "So, what's your name? And what did he do to piss you off like that?" He asked her.

"Yugito Nii." The violet haired Cloud Ninja said before jabbing a thumb towards her Ninja Headband tied around her neck. "From the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning. He," She jabbed her thumb towards the mound next. "He came to my village, threatened my Raikage, tried to destroy my village, killed your sensei while trying to hunt down Naruto of the Nine Tail Fox, and he kept calling me a bitch when I'm a feline. I'm sorry, that just does not work for me."

Snorting, Shikamaru nodded. "Okay. I think I can buy that. And seeing that he knew you, and attacked your village, he was probably after another Jinchuriki. I'm taking it that's you, right?" He asked, carefully.

Yugito nodded as she placed her hands onto her slender waist and stepped back away from him. "Yup. I'm the Two Tailed Jinchuriki of Nekomatta, the Fire-ghost cat. Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering, your sensei is standing right behind you, smiling. I'm taking it that he's mighty proud of you." She said, smiling at the transparent man that was directly behind Shikamaru.

Surprised, Shikamaru turned around to see what she was talking about but he didn't see anything. He glanced back at her, almost wondering if she was pulling his leg or something.

Smiling, Yugito shook her head as she looked at the spirit of Asuma Saturobi before he slowly vanished. "He's a spirit. Of course you're not going to see him. I can because of Nekomatta's necromancer abilities. With it, I can sometimes see or hear the spirits that linger around. It can be annoying but sometimes it's not too bad. Your sensei is gone now but I can tell he was very proud of you for what you've done. I think he was even honored that you felt the need to even avenge his death. But you also helped me get rid of an Akatsuki member." She told him with a shrug.

Shikamaru just blinked a few times before he got a very peaceful look on his face and looked up at the blue sky high above their heads. He stood that way for a moment before looking back at Yugito. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. We should probably get back." Yugito suggested. "I know that they finished killing off the other Akatsuki guy, but your team must be worried about you. And I would like to meet the other Jinchuriki, Gaara and Naruto."

"So, why exactly are you here? If I remember right, the Leaf Village and the Cloud Village don't exactly get along." Shikamaru said as they started to walk back.

Yugito shook her head as she looked forward, a somewhat peaceful look on her face. "They don't really. But I'm going to change that. I've made friends out of Rock Lee and the rest of the team and I'm not about to give that up." She looked back at him. "I'm here to bring peace between our villages and help protect the other Jinchuriki. I am not going to let the Akatsuki hurt any more Jinchuriki." She said to him.

Shikamaru just nodded in understanding. He had to smile to hear that she was there to help protect Gaara and Naruto and he had to respect her for that. So far, he was already starting to like her for her help with Hidan.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight

It was easy to say that quite a lot of people, including Kakashi were quite surprised to see Rin Hayashi as she knelt beside the Copy Ninja, healing his wounds. They hadn't said very much since she was revealed to them. Most of them just stared at her, still very surprised. They couldn't believe she was even there, more or less, even there. Many of them had believed that she was dead nearly over the past sixteen to seventeen years. They all knew that it would be a bigger shock to others when they returned to Konohagakure. Especially when it came to Tsunade. Many of the older Leaf Ninja knew very well that Rin had once been her student and they had been semi close.

So they knew that if Tsunade seen Rin Hayashi, they knew there was going to be a very loud lecture coming her way.

Other than that, all of the Leaf Ninja were staring curiously at the Shadoai, the Third Tail Jinchuriki, his brother and his Guardian and the Two Tail Jinchuriki when she re-arrived with Shikamaru from burying Hidan in the ground. They didn't understand too much about the new arrivals but they did get the fact that they were allies with their friends. So there wasn't going to be much of a fight with them.

However, once everything calmed down, quite a few people smiled when they watched Sakura race over and throw her arms around Gaara, which he did the same. It was too cute to see them being reunited again.

The young Shadoai, Sen Zangetsu, however, was smiling the brightest as she looked from Gaara to Sakura. She looked like she was getting excited over something. And eventually she balled up her fists and let out a cheerful squeal, getting quite a few surprised looks. "AWWWW!" She exclaimed brightly. She dashed over to where Gaara and Sakura were standing, who looked surprised. "You two are so cute together! You have got to be Sakura Haruno! Hi! My name is Sen Zangetsu! I'm the Shadokage of the Shadow Village! Gaara has told me so much about you! He was so right about you! You are so pretty!"

Sakura blinked several times before glancing side wards at Gaara, whose face was quite flushed. She had to smile coyly before she reached out and shook Sen's awaiting hand. "Oh, really? Is that what he said?" She asked.

"No! Actually his exact words were that you were the most beautiful girl he ever knew and that he loved you with all of his being!" Sen said almost just as coyly as she looked mischievously at the young Kazekage, whose face went almost as red as his hair and he tried dipping his head down to hide it.

Many of the Leaf Ninja and Gaara's siblings burst out with laughter as they watched Gaara's face turn even redder before he decided to glare at everyone to get them to stop. It didn't work out as well as he hoped.

"So, so!" Naruto suddenly blurted out, catching everyone's attention. He had been staring at both Yagura and Yugito Nii, almost astonished to have learned that they were Jinchuriki. He even bounced over a little, staring between them. "So, you're both like me and Gaara?"

Yagura raised an almost lifeless eyebrow at him while Yugito smirked and placed her hands onto her waist. She was the only one to actually respond with a nod. "Yup. I'm Yugito Nii. The Two Tail Firecat of the Lightning Country. And you're Naruto, huh? Lee, Tenten, Neji and Master Guy told me quite a bit about you. I've been looking forward to meeting you." She said, smiling.

"And I am Yagura, Fourth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village. Third Tail Jinchuriki." Yagura said dully.

Naruto blinked as he stared at Yagura before making a face and pointing at him. "Jeez. You kinda sound like Gaara when he's in a bad mood." He grumbled before yelping when he saw twin glares from his best friend and the Third Tail. "UH! Not that's a bad thing! I mean…..!"

Sakura groaned and pressed two fingers against her temple as she stared dully at the blonde. "Ugh! Naruto, why don't you just stop before you start? You know saying things like that will just get you into trouble." She remarked before glancing side wards and seeing that Yugito and Lee were somewhat smiling at each other as they shared a shrug with one another. She tilted her head curiously before smiling faintly. "Hey, Lee. You and Yugito seem awfully close. And I happened to have noticed the way you stood up for her while fighting Kakazu."

"Yeah!" Naruto piped up, grateful that the subject changed so suddenly. He had started to sweat when Gaara peered at him dully with his sea-foam colored eyes. He only grinned as he reached over and nudged a blushing Lee's elbow. "So, is she, like, your girlfriend now? Huh? Huh?" He asked slyly.

Both Lee and Yugito glanced nervously at one another before taking a side step further away each other. They were both blushing furiously while everyone laughed a little. "Uh! No! It's not…..it's not…..!" The Leaf Taijutsu Specialist yammered.

Tenten snorted before she reached over and shoved Naruto away from Lee. "No, Naruto. They're not. They're just really good friends." She then leaned over and cupped a hand around Sakura's ear to whisper, "But they really, really like each other. Lee had a crush on her when he first saw her in Port City and she's just barely starting to develop a crush on him."

Yugito blushed even furiously as steam started to trail off of her. "Tenten!" She hissed, having heard her. Tenten just laughed rubbing the back of her neck as if sheepish, while Neji rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

Then, Naruto decided to turn his attention onto Kakashi next, watching as the woman beside him healed his wounds and then carefully help him sit up. He scampered over and nudged his former sensei's arm next, grinning slyly. "So, Kakashi-sensei. Who is this? Is she…?" He started to ask.

Kakashi gave him an annoyed look before shoving the blonde away from him, earning a yelp and a shout of protest. "Naruto, not everyone of the opposite gender are boyfriend and girlfriends." He glanced back at Rin, who was somewhat blushing as she wrapped an arm around his and helped him to his feet. "This is an old friend of mine. Rin Hayashi."

Rin smiled gently around at everyone and waved as she kept a hand on Kakashi's back, trying to support him. "Hello, everyone." She then blinked while quite a few of the ANBU were staring at her suspiciously. She knew very well why they were. "I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?" She asked, faintly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and nodded. "Yeah. That might help, Rin. After all, you've been supposedly dead for sixteen years." He remarked.

All of the young Ninja, minus the Sand Siblings and Yagura blinked in surprise. They weren't sure what to make of that. But Gaara just closed his eyes as he tilted his head downward. He knew that this was not the time for Rin's story. There was too much at stake right now. "Kakashi, everyone." He spoke quietly, making everyone look at him. "This can wait till later. Rin will just have to explain it again. The only thing we can say right now, she has been a Shadoai Ninja in the Hidden Shadow Village for the past several years." He reopened his eyes and looked over at Sen and Chiro. "As for that promise I made to you," He paused once again to point a finger at someone. "That is who you're looking for." He finished.

All eyes slowly trailed to who he was pointing at and to everyone's surprise, it was Sai.

For someone who didn't feel emotions very much, Sai looked just as surprised as everyone. Especially when Sen and Chiro blinked several times and stared at him. It just grew even more surprising when the young Shadoai gasped and rushed over to him, stopping only inches away from him.

"Uh, Gaara?" Naruto asked, skeptically. "What are you talking about? What do you mean that they've been looking for Sai?"

Gaara did not answer but watched as Sen stared directly into an uneasy Sai's eyes. He just watched like everyone else did. Though, other than his brother and sister and his new companions, everyone else was surprised while they weren't.

Sen stared right into Sai's eyes, quite astonished before she reached up to touch his face. But the young Artist Ninja caught her wrist and held her hand away from him while eyeing her suspiciously. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, uneasily.

"She's just trying to figure out if you're her twin brother or not." Chiro remarked, sounding just as astonished as his young ward was looking.

Everyone, once again, but minus some people, looked very surprised. Naruto even grunted in surprise and started at Sen and Sai with alarm. He, like everyone else, couldn't believe that Sai could even have a sister, much less a sister from an entirely different village. They all knew that they didn't know him very well, but the way he was looking right now, he couldn't believe it either.

Sai stared, quite alarmed for someone who couldn't feel emotions, right at Sen as she stared right into his eyes. He couldn't believe what these people were even saying. He didn't believe it. "You must be mistaken. I'm afraid I do not have a sister, more or less, I am from the Leaf Village. I have lived in the Hidden Leaf Village for my entire life." He told everyone.

Sen shook her head as she stared with tears slowly filling her eyes. "No. No." She quickly shoved a hand into her waist pouch and pulled out the photo she had showed to Gaara and his siblings before holding it up. She looked quickly from the picture to Sai and then back again. She shook her head again as more tears filled her eyes and she looked almost breathless. "No. That's not true! You are! You are my twin brother, Sei!" She gasped.

Again everyone blinked in surprise before a few murmured quietly to others. Sai just shook his head as he let go of Sen's wrist and stepped back. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. I cannot be who you are looking for." He told her, emotionlessly.

"Sai." Rin spoke up, still supporting a rather surprised Kakashi. She tilted her head, looking almost curiously at the pale Leaf Ninja. "Where are you from exactly? You are the Elder, Danzo's subordinate, correct?"

Sai just frowned at her before glancing back at Sen. "I'm afraid….." He was saying.

"Yes." Gaara spoke up, closing his eyes and dipping his head down a little. He remained that way for a moment before reopening his eyes and looking directly at Sai. "Sai is Danzo's subordinate. But for who knows how long, only Sai can answer that. Maybe." He dipped his head down even lower. "Sai, how long have you been in the Root program? Do you remember where you were born?" He asked calmly.

There was a very long silence as Sai stared directly into Gaara's eyes before he closed his own and shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't answer that. I am not allowed to speak of my past. The Foundation of Root Ninja has no past…" He was saying.

Quite a few of the Ninja were annoyed to even hear Sai say that. Most didn't say anything, of course, but a few murmured that it was a stupid rule they had ever heard. Ibiki was one who voiced his opinion on the matter. He frowned deeply as he eyed the young Leaf Ninja almost sourly. "While that is true and the best for most, right now, Sai, you are obligated to answer the Lord Kazekage's questions. I may not be your supervisor, but I am a higher ranked ANBU than you are. And I don't care what Danzo's rules are right now. Him, being an Elder or not. I am just as curious as everyone else is about this whole thing and if I have to order you to answer the damn question, then I will." He grounded out.

For a moment, Sai looked surprised to hear such strong words from a fellow ANBU. Especially one of Ibiki's stature. He knew the rough reputation that Ibiki Morino held but he had expected to hear him say such things about an Elder like Danzo. "You don't understand. I am not at liberty to say anything. I'm afraid I can't." He told everyone.

"Why, Sai? Why can't you tell us?" Sakura asked frowning, slightly irritated at her emotionless friend's hesitation about talking.

"It's because of the seal he has on his person."

Everyone stiffened when they heard a new voice but what made everyone jerk their heads around to search for the source was the fact that it seemed to echo right off the trees all around them. It was the same voice but it was coming from all around the Ninja; Leaf, Mist, Cloud and Shadoai, who stiffened in surprise but in recognition.

Sen jerked around, her eyes dashing from one place to the next as her face lit up with happiness. She looked happy to hear that voice, if not surprised. "Oh, my! He never comes out when I don't call him!" She said brightly.

"Who is that? What's going on?" Naruto blurted out, looking around wildly.

It was then everyone began to notice the shadows on the ground. It was a strange sight to see as the shadows seemed to move as one, gathering in spot near the tree line. It was like they were coming to life or if Shikamaru was playing tricks on them. But with only a glance, everyone saw that he looked just as alarmed as they all did.

And from the very shadows, a large white paw step right out of the darkness, followed by a massive form of a wolf.

Everyone froze in shock as they stared at the wolf. They couldn't believe the size of it. It was nearly the size of a horse, if not slightly bigger. Its head was dipped down low, as if it was stalking prey but once it was completely out of the shadows, it lift it high and proud. It had dark blue and black markings running all over and through its fur, yet they seemed to move slowly as if they were living shadows their selves. The wolf's full yellow moon like eyes stared unblinking around at everyone, meeting every single Ninja's eyes before falling upon Sen as she was the first to move.

The very sight of the great wolf had made the young Shadoai Princess squeak in glee before she raced over to greet it. It did not move at all as it watched her approach quickly before allowing her to throw her arms around thick neck. It finally dipped its head down over Sen's shoulder, as if embracing her right back.

"Lord Okami!" Chiro finally spoke before sweeping down to one knee to bow in respect. He ignored some of the surprised looks he was getting but kept his head down low. "It is always a pleasure to be in your presence, my Lord. But why have you…..?"

The Wolf Lord lift its giant head before looking around at everyone. His eyes finally fell on the four Jinchuriki and it seemed as if he was smiling in amusement. "Four Tailed Demons. In the presence of one another and not fighting to bite each others' heads off. Now this is a sight I have not seen before." He looked each Jinchuriki in the eyes with his nearly soul piercing eyes before looking back at Chiro. "Chiro Nagataka, do I must always repeat myself? You do not have to bow down to me every time you see me." He said with a very kind but powerful voice.

A wide smile spread out on Chiro's face as he finally lift his head and looked up at the Wolf Lord. He couldn't help but shake his head as he slowly lift himself to his feet. "Forgive me, Lord Okami. But I've been brought up to respect you. This will probably not be the last time you have to remind me." He told him with light humor.

The giant wolf just shook his head before looking down at Sen. "Sen, you did not realize it, but your heart did call me. I have been listening to this entire conversation." He lift his moon lit eyes and looked directly at Sai. "Now, for the desire of your heart, I will be the judge of who this young cub really is." He side stepped away from Sen and lightly padded towards Sai, who stepped back as if alarmed. It was almost amusing to many others. But the large wolf paused in mid step at the unease in Sai's eyes. "Do not fear me, young cub. I only wish to look into your eyes. I am not one who harms humans unless they tend to harm my young Shadokage." He said, swishing his giant brush of a tail towards Sen, who smiled brightly.

Sai didn't step back again as the wolf slowly approached him but everyone could tell that he was feeling just a little intimidated. And no one could blame him. The Wolf Lord was quite big and it was known by many that wolves were rather fierce when they were angered.

Lord Okami, King of the Wolves, dipped his head down a little, since he was a good deal taller than Sai was. He lowered his head until he was nearly eye length of the young Leaf Ninja's own. His moon lit eyes looked directly into Sai's, staring almost intentively. And to Sai, it felt like something was poking at his very soul. He could almost feel as if the Wolf Lord could see into his very soul with those eyes of his.

"Is it…?" Sen spoke up, hopefully. "Okami, is it him? Is he really…..?"

For a long time, Okami stared into Sai's eyes, who found himself not even able to blink because of those piercing eyes. And for a long time, everyone watched as the wolf and the Leaf Ninja had a stare down.

Finally, the Wolf Lord broke eye contact by closing his eyes and lifting his head up. He sighed softly as he turned his entire body and looked back at the hopeful look on Sen's face. "I'm sorry, Sen." He spoke quietly.

"No." Sen whispered, sounding as if all of her hopes had just been crushed by his very words.

Everyone, including Sai, who was quite puzzled by very feeling, felt sorry that Sen's hopes were crushed. Nearly everyone had been hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sai really was her twin brother. It would have given Gaara, Naruto and Sakura some idea of who their team mate and friend was. It would have shed some light on him and probably would have helped them understand more about him.

"I'm afraid that this young pup is no longer Sei Zangetsu. He has been Sai for nearly sixteen years, since Caligo Zangetsu had kidnapped him and made all of us think he was dead." Okami said calmly.

Everyone blinked at the choice of his words, very surprised to even hear what he had even said.


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!" The voice of the Fifth Hokage could be heard throughout the entire Leaf Village, making all of it's people jerk their heads up and look towards the Hokage Administration building with alarm. They could hear the rage and confusion from her very voice, making all realize that something was up.

But then again, after all, news traveled rather fast in Konohagakure.

It was already going around that there were new faces in the village. Everyone had heard that several of their Leaf Ninja and the Fifth Kazekage, former Leaf Ninja and his siblings had returned with a nicely sized group of new people from elsewhere. The news had spoken of Mist and Cloud Ninja among them. They had even heard of the strange three Shinobi with black stones embedded into their Shinobi headbands. They had heard that they were Shinobi from a secret village of Shadows, but no one knew anything about it. Many of the villagers were gossiping about this new group of strangers. Some were uneasy, some were excited.

But one thing for sure, no one knew who these strangers were or why they were there. And no one was sure if the rumor of the so called dead Leaf Shinobi coming back to life was true.

After the revelation that Sen's Guardian, Lord Okami had given them, everyone had stared in shock at him or at the completely taken by surprise, Sai. They couldn't believe what had just been said.

Almost everyone had wide eyes and jaws dropped nearly to their chests. Everyone But Gaara, Yagura, Guren, Yukimaru, Yugito Nii and Ibiki; who only looked minor surprised. Everyone else was just gawking at Sai or the Wolf Lord with shock.

"WHAT?" Naruto was the one to burst out in shock. His eyes were as large as saucers, while his jaw hung wide open. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? SAI IS SEN'S TWIN BROTHER?"

No one really answered him while Lord Okami's ears did twitch in irritation at the wacky blonde's exclamation. He merely let his full moon eyes glance at him before looking back into the surprised Sai's dark eyes. He did not reply but watched the young Leaf Ninja's reaction.

Sen, however, had tears flowing down her cheeks as she smiled brightly, looking from the Wolf Lord to Sai, and bouncing a little on her heels. "You mean…! You mean….! We found him! We found him!" She cried before launching herself forward and throwing her arms around an alarmed Sai's chest, who jumped and looked at her with wide eyes. "Sei! I knew it! I knew it was you! I knew that I would meet you some day!"

But Sai quickly grabbed her arms and pushed her away, moving backwards. He was definitely stunned, for someone so emotionless. He could not believe this. He would not. He looked at Lord Okami, shaking his head. "You must…..You must be mistaken. I can not be…" He was saying.

The Wolf Lord sighed, tilting his head away and closing his eyes. "You were Sei Zangetsu before your uncle, Caligo Zangetsu stole you away from the Shadow Village, Sai. You wield the ability to bring ink to life, yes?" He asked, earning a surprised look but a nod from the young ninja in black. He opened his eyes, not needing to see the nod at all. "That was your mother's, Yukoi's ability. She was once a Shinobi but after marrying Kageri Zangetsu, she gave up that life to raise you and Sen. She only brought ink creations to life for the entertainment of children."

Slowly, Sai shook his head, quite bewildered. He still couldn't believe this. He wouldn't. "But….I…..I have been with Danzo…." He was saying again.

"Clearly, Danzo took you from Caligo." Chiro said, quite sourly. "He must have. That's the only explanation."

The Wolf Lord glanced at him but nodded as he looked back at Sai. "The only one who can answer this predicament is Danzo, himself. He alone can explain your existence, Sai. But know this, I am a demon spirit and some spirits can look into the souls of people. I see who you really were." He told him.

"That is…..if the old man decides to be cooperative." Anko said rather dryly, her arms folding across her chest.

"The fact that Rin Hayashi has just told us that Danzo was plotting the assassination of the Fourth Hokage, that takes more priority to look at." Ibiki agreed but with the shake of his head. He was still reeling from what Rin had said and he just couldn't believe it. Or take that news lightly. Especially if a Leaf Elder was doing such plots against the Leaf Village. He refused to take it lightly. "That will be have to addressed immediately. We should all return to the Leaf Village and get this straightened out."

Rin grimaced and Kakashi saw it. He glanced at her, noting the worry in her eyes. He knew very well why she was so worried and so did many others when they saw the same look as he did. They knew that if she had that kind of news, there would be no doubt that Danzo would want to make sure she didn't tell anyone else. He would probably have his Root ANBU looking for her to kill her before she could deliver the news to Tsunade, who would definitely have something to say about it.

"Rin," Kakashi said very seriously. "I will not let any harm come to you. If Danzo does send his people to kill you, I will make sure that they don't."

"As will I." Gaara said sternly, making everyone look at him. He was looking rather dark at the thought that Danzo would try and have this woman killed when she was a close friend of Kakashi's and the fact that she did have some news to tell Naruto, whenever she got the guts to actually tell him. "I will protect you with everything I have."

"SO will I!" Sen said, wiping her tears and looking at her friend with determination.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Even Yagura, who was only agreeing because Gaara was. He trusted only the other Jinchuriki and would do what he would do. Even all of the Leaf Shinobi nodded, as well as Ibiki. "As long as you come willingly and with cooperation, I will make sure no ANBU attacks you. You have news of a higher treason than you ever performed by pretending you were dead. That can be over looked when you have plans of assassination against a Hokage. Even if that Hokage has been dead for years."

Everyone just glanced at him with dry looks before they shook their heads. They didn't wan to get into this right now.

So without another word, the large group of Shinobi began their way back towards the Leaf Village, even though Rin was actually helping Kakashi right along. He was still a little weakened by the over use of his Chakra. Yugito Nii was chatting away cheerfully with a highly amused Sakura and Sen jumped in right with them.

The only one who didn't look too amused with this entire thing was Guren. She was highly irritated that so many things were happening and she didn't like the fact that most of the Shinobi all around her were men. She was definitely not happy.

Yagura was just passive.

It was just right at the front gates of Konoha did things get stirred up, and not in a very good way at all.

Just as everyone was approaching the gates, several black blurs immediately leapt down from the trees, barricading the path to go into the village. Everyone immediately tensed up, looking around at all of the ANBU that blocked their way. There were about twenty ANBU, surrounding them; adding the two ANBU that were lunging at Rin with kunai in their hands.

But before the two could even attack her, a wall of sand shot up between them, halting their attacks.

A second after that, a foot slammed into one of their heads and sent him flying backwards, crashing and rolling across the ground before he was back up on his feet glaring at the one who had done it.

It was a surprise to the ANBU that it had actually been Anko who attacked them right back.

"What is the meaning of this attack?" Ibiki was the one to yell angrily as he quickly placed himself between Rin and the ANBU right behind her and Kakashi. He looked impressively intimidating, not that he wasn't already.

"Morino-Samma," One ANBU spoke up with a growl. "That is a Leaf traitor and we had it under orders to attack any traitors…."

"You will stand your ground, Ox!" Ibiki snapped savagely. "I don't give a shit if you got those orders from Danzo, himself! If I have someone who is suppose to be a Leaf traitor with me, you will let me deal with that traitor! Do we have an understanding?"

"But…..!" One tried to argue.

"I SAID DO WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING?" Ibiki snapped viciously, glaring around at everyone. The look in his eyes was deadly enough if his voice wasn't. He looked severely angry and everyone who knew him knew better than to contradict what he had said. Everyone who knew Ibiki Morino knew better than to try and attack someone that he was even escorting to the Hokage, herself.

So it was no surprise that the attacking ANBU immediately backed down, bowing to Ibiki as they all murmured, "Yes, sir."

With a sharp nod, Ibiki turned to look at Rin, just to make sure that she wasn't harmed. He was satisfied to see that she wasn't hurt in any way. He gave another sharp nod before looking around at everyone else. "Let us continue to the Hokage Tower to speak with the Lady Hokage." He said firmly.

Again, the entire group was moving, without the exception of the other ANBU that had been in Ibiki's squad. They were mostly just eyeing the other ANBU with warning, daring them to try and attacking Rin Hayashi again. Not that they needed to. The ANBU had seen the dark look of warning in Gaara's eyes as he watched them carefully, following the large group heading towards the Hokage tower.

As everyone walked through the village, there were surprised eyes watching them go by. The villagers were eyeing the new faces with uneasy but curiosity. More than once, there had been murmurs of alarm to see the Mist and Cloud Ninja and even the Shadow Ninja. A few of those gawkers were even Hyuuga, though Neji was quick to waving a hand at them to relax when he saw how tense they were to see a Cloud Ninja. They didn't look at ease but they did not follow Tokuma's reaction when he first saw Yugito Nii.

Finally they came to the steps of the Hokage Tower, only to find the one person that they had not wanted to see right at the moment before the Hokage. Everyone came to a halt to see who was blocking the door to the building.

Elder Danzo.

Rin immediately ducked behind Kakashi, who was frowning seriously up at the Elder. He kept a hand on her arm, even from behind him, giving it a light squeeze to let her know that he would protect her.

Gaara, his siblings, Sen and Chiro and even the Fourth Mizukage stepped closer to the two, almost serving as protectors for Rin. They were not the only ones. Even Naruto and Sakura moved closer, watching the bitter Elder carefully and daring him to try something. Sai, however, looked torn between the decision of bowing down to his supervisor or joining Naruto and Sakura.

Ibiki met Danzo's eyes rather firmly before stepping forward ahead the entire group. He did not look relaxed, nor on guard about the Elder. "Elder Danzo." He greeted almost impassively.

"Ibiki Morino." Danzo spoke in a very deadly tone. "I would like very much to hear your excuse about leading a traitor to the Hokage Tower and why you have not arrested or executed that traitor."

It was clear that he was talking about Rin because his squinty eyes flickered to her as she tried to hide behind Kakashi, who stood firm to protect her.

Dipping his head down a little, Ibiki stood just as firm between Danzo and the two Leaf Ninja. He did not tear his eyes away from the elder for one second. "Elder Danzo, there is no traitor amongst this ground but an informant. Rin Hayashi has returned to the Leaf Village with a message for the Hokage of great importance. I am merely escorting her to see the Hokage to deliver her message. And I would appreciate it if you allowed us to move on." He said his tone full of warning.

Danzo did not move at all but he did stand firm like a guardian statue of some sort. The only movement he made was breathing and tightening his grip on his cane. "Ibiki Morino, I will not allow that traitor to pass for any means at all. But I will order you to arrest Rin Hayashi immediately and transport her to the Konoha Prison for awaiting the proper execution for the treason she has committed. As Elder, I demand it. If you do not comply with my order, I will…." He was saying.

"As Head of the ANBU Interrogation and Retrieval Squad, Elder Danzo," Ibiki suddenly interrupted, surprising quite a few others for his brash interference of an Elder talking. No one had ever seen or heard him ever do such a thing. He was always about following orders and such. But right now, he was in a way disrespecting Danzo by interrupting him. "It is my job to retrieve certain bits of information from traitors. Now, I have already questioned her and I see no betrayal in her words. What she has to say is for the Hokage to decide her fate, Elder Danzo-sama." He spoke coldly. "As such, I will be taking Rin Hayashi to Lady Tsunade, one way or another. Right. Now. Now, please, Elder Danzo-sama. Step aside and allow me to take the 'traitor' to the Lady Hokage for interrogation."

Glaring at Ibiki now, Danzo raised his cane and then slammed it back down against the ground. "I will not and how dare you speak to me in such a manner, Morino! That is treason! As Elder of Konoha, I hereby order your removal from the…"

"Is that so, Danzo?" Someone asked rather coldly.

Everyone looked past Danzo just to see Tsunade, Jiraiya and the other two Elders walking out of the building, along with Gaara's young student, Quoi, who seemed to be occupying the Elders', himself. His hand was in Elder Koharu's own hand, as if he was escorting her. He looked rather comfortable with her and Elder Homura. Gaara could only wonder exactly what had been going on with his student while he'd been away.

It had been Tsunade who had spoken. It was clear that she hadn't noticed that it was Rin Hayashi that they had been talking about because she hadn't erupted just yet. It was more than likely she heard what Ibiki said then what Danzo said.

And now, she looked annoyed.

A scowl formed on Danzo's face as he turned to look at the Lady Hokage and his former team mates before he slammed his cane down on the ground in irritation. "Tsunade, in this case, you have no saying. I want the removal of Ibiki Morino from his position and arrested for undermining my authority." He growled at her.

"Overruled, Danzo." Homura suddenly spoke up, along with Koharu.

"I am curious to see what has you so uptight so suddenly." The Elderly woman spoke up before looking past him at the entire ground. Her mouth fell open slightly to see all of the new faces. "Well, Cloud and Mist Ninja in our very own village. They are either prisoners of war or they are here for other means. And I surely don't recognize those two. What village do you hail from, young man?" She asked, nodding to Chiro and Sen.

Glancing at each other, both of the Shadow Ninja stepped forward and bowed in respect to the elders. It was Sen, who moved closer towards the group at the top of the stairs. "I am Sen Zangetsu, Honorary Elders of Konoha. I am the Shadokage of the Hidden Village of the Shadows, Kagegakure." She stood up straight and motioned to Chiro. "This is my body guard and team mate, Chiro Nagataka." She smiled sweetly as she could at Tsunade and the two Elders, ignoring Danzo completely. "I come to bring peace between our villages and hoping to join alliances with our villages." She told them in a rather diplomatic way.

Gaara had to admit it. He was impressed with Sen's seriousness of the situation. He didn't think she could be so diplomatic.

"Man, beautiful, tough, and smart." Kankuro murmured beside him, grinning as he watched Sen as she took charge. He gave his younger brother a side glance, still grinning. "I think I'm in love, Gaara."

The young Kazekage just sweat dropped as he raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what of the Cloud and Mist Ninja? Our villages have been long time enemies, even in this somewhat era of peace. There has always been so much trouble between our villages. Why are they here?" Elder Homura asked.

Yagura remained emotionless while Yugito Nii waved merrily at them as she stayed beside her friends of Team Guy. "Hello! I am Yugito Nii! The Two Tailed Jinchuriki of the Cloud Village! I'm friends with Guy and his team now and I want to help protect the other Jinchuriki, Naruto and Gaara from the Akatuski!" She said brightly. "As such, I want to form peace between the Cloud and Leaf Villages!"

"And I am Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of the Mist Village." Yagura spoke in a dead tone. "Third Tail Jinchuriki. As former leader of the Mist Village, I will form an alliance with the Sand Village. And because the Sand Village is allied with the Leaf Village, the brutality between our villages will cease immediately. I, too, come to protect the remaining Jinchuriki."

Tsunade, Jiraiya and the Elders looked quite surprised to learn who and what Yugito Nii and Yagura were, but there was somewhat pleasure to hear that they were bringing only peace. They never would have imagined that something like this would happen at all. "Cloud, Mist and Shadows?" The Lady Hokage asked in surprise before her head lift higher. "Well, this is surely a turn around. Here I was expecting a report from Team 10 about the Akatsuki and I get so much more."

"I think you're about to get a lot more than that, My Lady." Rin finally spoke up before she carefully stepped around from Kakashi, looking rather sheepish.

As expected, Tsunade's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the very sight of Rin. She had not been expecting this at all. "Rin Hayashi? What the hell? What is going on here? I thought you were dead!" She yelped out, sharing a shocked glance with Jiraiya. Rin could only wince as she listened to the somewhat anger and surprise in her former Medical Mentor's tone.

"Enough of this! Arrest that traitor! Now!" Danzo snapped, jabbing his cane towards Rin. "I want her arrested and executed!"

"That is only because you do not want to tell Lady Tsunade and the other Elders of YOUR treachery, Elder Danzo!" Rin suddenly snapped, all friendliness out of her tone. She looked at him coldly before jerking her eyes back towards the surprised Tsunade. "Lady Tsunade, Elders, I can explain of why I am here, when you thought I was dead. I have been in hiding because…"

"I will not have another lying…" Danzo snapped, now starting to limp forward as if he was going to attack Rin, himself.

Suddenly, Sand and water, as well as fire and shadows sprung up between him and Rin and Kakashi, while the One, Two and Three Tailed Jinchuriki glared at him. "Lady Hokage, allow Rin to speak. She has good reason for her false death. And it all deals with….." Gaara was saying.

"I will not hear of her lies…!"

"DANZO! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Jiraiya suddenly snapped, glaring at the Elder. "I want to hear the excuse Rin has to say.

Tsunade nodded as she glared at the Elder, a twinkle in her eyes. It was to everyone else's surprise that Homura and Koharu were also nodding in agreement, much to the disapproval and anger of Danzo. And because his team mates were agreeing with Jiraiya, Danzo did not speak again but looked rather furious.

"Lady Tsunade," Rin began carefully, still eyeing Danzo uneasily. "I faked my own death because of Elder Danzo. The night of the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, I overheard Elder Danzo plotting the assassination of Minato Namikaze, with Orochimaru. If anyone is the traitor, it is Danzo. If I had not pretended my death, I really would have been dead. He sent his Root ANBU after me to make sure I didn't alert the Third Hokage." She said firmly.

Everyone froze and stared at Rin with alarm. They were all stunned still while Danzo was fuming and glaring at the long lost but found Leaf Ninja. Gaara, however, was watching the old man very carefully. He was waiting for the reaction that he knew would be coming.

But for a long moment, nothing happened.

Everyone just stared in alarm and shock before the old finally did move. He was gone in a blur, making everyone jump and looked quickly around. Everyone tensed, wondering where he went before someone slammed into Kakashi, sending him flying through the air.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura gasped, alarmed like everyone else.

"Kakashi!" Rin gasped, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she watched her former team mate go rolling and crashing against the ground. That is until she saw a flash of gray and jerked her head around to see Danzo coming at her with his staff. A blade sticking out from the bottom. She gasped, stepping back but knowing that she wouldn't escape in time.

Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke and shadows before something large and white with blue and black swirls all over it sprang up between Rin and Danzo. Powerful jaws closed on the wooden staff, snapping it with its sharp fangs before jerking its head and sending the Elder scooting across the ground on his feet.

The giant Wolf King was standing before Rin, his eyes dark and his hassles raised as he snarled at the Elder who tried to kill the Leaf Kunoichi.

Before anything else could happen, black chains sprang up out of the ground and wrapped around Danzo, keeping him from moving. He did not look surprised for one moment but turned his glare onto Ibiki, whom had slammed his hand down on the ground, using his abilities to bind him.

"That will be enough!" Tsunade snapped, her tone very deadly as she turned a sharp glare on the Elder. "Well, I was questioning Rin's accusations towards you, Danzo! I didn't even believe her for a second until you decided to blow it!" She jabbed a finger at him. "Well, you just proved her right! As Hokage of the Leaf Village, I order you to be arrested! Immediately!" She shot a look over her shoulder at the other two Elders, daring them to say anything against her.

But it was clear that they were just as livid as she and everyone else was for the sudden act of violence against Rin. They both nodded their approval for Danzo's arrest.

"Hold on! I have only one question before that happens." Sen suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone.

"Huh?" Tsunade only asked in confusion.

Sen, her face quite dark with rage for what Danzo had nearly done to her best friend, turned towards him. She placed both hands on her waist, stepping closer but not too close because Chiro had grabbed her arm to keep her from doing so. She looked very serious for her age, taking the role she was suppose to have. "Where did Sai come from? Did a man name Caligo Zangetsu give him to you?" She asked sternly.

Again, everyone looked surprised while Danzo's head dipped lower. He did not answer at all but glared at her.

"Danzo-sama," Sai spoke up calmly, moving forward. He looked emotionless as ever but determined to know the truth. "Where did I come from?"

Shaking his head, Danzo lift his head again. "You are no one. You have no history. You do not have a past. You are only a nameless tool used for the purpose of the Leaf Village only." He said coldly. "And if you side with them, you are nothing more than useless to me."

Sai practically flinched away from his supervisor's harsh words.

"You son of a…..! How dare you say something like that to Sai!" Naruto burst out, furious that Danzo would even say something like that. Even Sakura was glaring at the Elder; and Gaara. And even Kakashi as he pushed himself to his feet, holding his very bruised side. "He is someone! He is Sai! Leaf Ninja and our friend!" The blonde snarled.

Danzo just shook his head as he tilted his head away. He was done talking to this band of miscreants. He did not have to explain himself.

"What I have told you, young pup," The large white, black and blue wolf spoke, surprising everyone who was unaware of his identity. The Wolf King stood tall again, though his moon like eyes was on Sai as he looked back. "You are who I said to be. Though you may have no memories of your past, erased by this man of deception, you are Sei Zangetsu, twin of Sen and son of the Shadokage of the Hidden Shadow Village. You may now be Sai of the Leaf Village, but in your blood runs royalty and nobility."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!" The voice of the Fifth Hokage could be heard throughout the entire Leaf Village, making all of its people jerk their heads up and look towards the Hokage Administration building with alarm.

The only thing that everyone could do was sigh and shake their heads. There was a lot of explanations to cover. Starting with everything that Rin had said, who Sai really was and what everyone was going to do from there on. But one thing was for certain, at least they knew about the treachery that Elder Danzo had tried to commit at the time of Kyuubi's Destruction on the Leaf Village.

And the next question everyone had to ask, where did they go from there?


	31. Chapter Thirty

Everything finally calmed down and explained, even with many questions going right through everyone's heads about what to do next. Even after the explanation of where Sai had really come from; which sadly Danzo refused to answer. It had annoyed everyone to great lengths that he was being a stubborn old man and not explaining a single word that Tsunade, with the permission from the other Elders, ordered Ibiki to take the old man into custody and begin his methods of interrogation.

The very thought of what was going to happen with Danzo was not pleasant for anyone to think about but no one shared any sympathy for him.

Eventually, everything had been explained of what had happened the past week with all of the teams. Everything that Gaara and Kankuro had gone through while in the Land of Hot Water and how they had found Yagura, Yukimaru and Guren and eventually had even lead up to finding Rin and her two fellow Shadoai.

Then eventually Team Gai explained what they had gone through on their mission in Wave. They even told Team Kakashi and Gaara of what Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari had said their hellos and congratulations to the new Kazekage. They went on to explaining that Port City had been under attack by the Chakra Brothers and the minions of Gatou who sought revenge on the city. They reported how they had come across Yugito Nii as Alea and how they found out who she was.

By the end of their explanation, Naruto represented a guppy fish, staring right at his fellow Jinchuriki after hearing that she had the power of manipulating the dead like Zabuza and Haku.

No one paid him no mind though.

The last to be explained was how everyone took down the two Akatsuki members, Kakuzu and Hidan; whom technically wasn't dead but buried in pieces in the Nara Clan property. Everyone was just a little creeped out to hear that the Akatsuki member was still alive but buried but at least they didn't have to worry about him for a while.

So, now all they had to do was figure out what the next part would be.

"Excellent work, everyone." Tsunade stated, her hands folded together as she looked at everyone that was piled into her office. Including the Elders and Quoi. She could almost smirk at the idea of having so many new allies all at once being in the Leaf village. It definitely was going to get very interesting from there on out. She definitely would want to see a few training matches between the four Jinchuriki and see what both the Two Tail and the Three Tailed Jinchuriki were capable of. She knew if they were anything like Gaara and Naruto, she was in for a lot of surprises. But that could wait for now. "Don't get complacent, though. There are still more Akatsuki to deal with. For now, everyone can take a break. You've all earned it. We'll also make some living arrangements for our new allies. Just until you're ready to move on and do whatever you desire." She told them.

Everyone just nodded while Yugito Nii bit her lip. She gave a meek little wince to think about it before she raised a hand. "My Lady," She began carefully earning a nod of encouragement from the Fifth Hokage. "If it's not too much to ask, can I send a messenger bird out to the Cloud Village? I think I played my death a little too long and it's time that I let my Raikage know that I'm not dead."

Tsunade reached up and chewed on her nail a little but she nodded. She knew that if they tried to prolong the revealing of Yugito Nii too long and the Cloud Village found out, there would be trouble. She knew very well of what would happen if they found out from someone else that they had their Jinchuriki in their village.

As it was, trouble might still be coming their way. The Leaf Village and the Cloud Village were not exactly friends.

"Very well, Yugito Nii. That will probably be the best course of action with you right at the moment. We don't any trouble with the Village Hidden in the Clouds. We already have bad reputations with them as it is." Tsunade said with a sigh.

Yugito Nii just smiled and shook her head as she tucked her hands behind her back. "I promise, Lady Hokage, I will do everything in my power to keep everything from blowing up. I swear, my Raikage will listen to me. He took me in when I had no home and raised me. He's just like my father and he is kind hearted once you get to know him. He's really protective over me and my best friend, Killer Bee; who is the Jinchuriki of the Eight Tails. He won't be happy that I'm here, of course, but I swear, he'll listen to me." She promised.

Tsunade faintly smiled but couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was probably going to go wrong anyway. "I sure hope so. We really don't want to end up fighting with the Cloud Village again." She said with a sigh.

"Oh, don't worry. You won't. I'll make sure of it." Yugito said with a sly smile. "Because if he tries to start a fight with you, I'll just pretend to cry and he and Killer Bee hates it when I cry. They'll do anything to keep me happy. I guess..." She grimaced but kept a grin on her face. "I'm kind of spoiled that way."

There were a lot of snickers and chuckles within the room as everyone found that highly amusing. Even Tsunade had to smirk behind her hand hands and shake her head.

"Yeah, well," Temari spoke up giving Gaara a rather scornful look. "We got a problem of our own to settle with our own village. The Suna Elders weren't exactly too happy about that letter that Gaara sent to us. I'm sure they're flipping out right about now."

"And poor Baki is the one who is going to suffer for it." Kankuro remarked. "If we don't get back, they'll probably send Hunter Nin after us."

Gaara shared a rather dry look with his siblings before shaking his head. "We're going back just yet." He suddenly spoke up.

"What?" Both Temari and Kankuro exclaimed in surprise and even the others looked surprised.

Again, Gaara shook his head as he looked right at them before turning his cool gaze onto Tsunade. He knew very well that things were going to get messier with his decision but it was for the best. "We have the Akatsuki to worry about. And as long as I am not there, they will leave the Sand Village alone. I will be staying in Konoha for a little longer until this whole Akatsuki mess is done and over with. I will be writing my concerns in a long letter for the Elders to understand. But right now, we have three other Jinchuriki to look after and protect, Temari, Kankuro. If we know the Akatsuki the most, which we should after how many clashes we've had with them, and they ruling the Sand Village for a number of years, they will come for Yugito Nii, Yagura and Naruto. I will not leave them unguarded." He said with determination.

Tsunade frowned at him. "You know they will be safe here, Lord Kazekage. We can protect them with all of our forces that we have. And I'm sure they're not exactly pushovers when it comes to fighting." She told him firmly.

Gaara looked back at her and nodded. "I am aware of that. But after how many clashes we've had with the Akatsuki, we know they possess quite powerful ninja among them. I just do not want to take that chance. And after what I will say to the Suna Elders, they will understand entirely." He told her.

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade finally nodded. "Very well, Gaara. You're more than welcome to staying as long as you want. You and your brother and sister. Let's just hope that the Suna Elders won't flip out on me." She said firmly eyeing him.

"They won't." Gaara said, his tone quite too serious for that remark.

A few eyes turned onto Yagura next, who got the idea of what they were asking. "I am known to be dead to the world and the Mist Village especially. But I suppose it will be best to inform them of my existence before they too find out the hard way. They will definitely not be pleased but as long as I carry Sanabi and stand with your village, they will not try and strike against you. They know how excessive my power can be. As it is, if I am guessing right, I know who the Fifth Mizukage is. She was not very fond of me, but she didn't hold me in contempt as many others had. She will listen to what I have to say." He swore to them.

Tsunade nodded again and turned her eyes onto Sen, Chiro and Rin. She frowned deeply at them; even as the youngest Shadoai was eyeing her so called twin brother with a slight happy but sad look at the same time. She knew that it was going to be very hard to get over the idea of knowing Sai's past now. He wasn't exactly from the Leaf Village but he had grown up there just like Gaara had. It was going to take some time getting used to the very idea. "Well, for our new allies, the Shadoai, we'll make sure you're well set up at the inn until we can find better accommodations for you." She looked directly at Rin, who cringed under the hard stare. "Rin, I will be wanting a full report from you of everything that happened after the battle with the Nine Tailed Fox."

Rin put on a firm look and jerked her head into a nod. "Hai, My Lady. And I won't leave a single thing out." She then frowned deeply as if she remembered something. "There was...one other thing that I should probably tell you, My Lady. But it will be best if I told you and you alone." She told her.

Everyone frowned to hear that. Even Kakashi looked curious to hear what she had to say. "Rin?" He asked merely touching her elbow.

Rin glanced at him but shook her head. "If you all don't mind, I would rather just tell the Lady Tsunade about it. It'll be her decision to inform the rest of you." She said, with an apologetic look.

Slowly, everyone nodded in understanding. They wanted to know what it was but they wouldn't push Rin into telling them. Especially if it was for Tsunade's ears only.

"In the mean time, why don't all of you get some rest?" Tsunade suggested to all of them. She could see that everyone was a little worn out from their hard day's battle with the two Akatsuki members. And if the two had been exactly how the reports had been given, the battles that Team Asuma, Team Kakashi and even all of the others had been a wearing one. So everyone must have been tired.

And then everyone was dismissed. Everyone but Rin, that is.

"My Lady," Rin said in a very serious tone as she looked directly into Tsunade's eyes. She knew that this bit of news was going to be just as unsettling and surprising to her as it had when she first discovered it. "There is one other thing that I need to let you know about."

"What is it?" Tsunade asked, her tone stern.

Rin shook her head as she lift her head higher. "The night of Minato Namikaze's sacrifice, Orochimaru wasn't the only person that Danzo was talking to. There was another person there. I have no idea who he was but I'm starting to get a picture of his identity. There was only one name that was given to Danzo. I'm not sure if it was true but….." She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "And it doesn't make sense one bit."

Tsunade's lips pursed at the way Rin was drawing it out. She knew it must have been a lot more serious than it was with Danzo consorting with Orochimaru about plots. There must have been something a whole lot more. "Tell me what happened, Rin. Don't leave anything out. What was the name you heard?" She asked firmly.

Again Rin shook her head as she thought about it for a moment. "It was right after Danzo was through talking with Orochimaru and I was about to start running for my life. A man in black showed up right after Orochimaru left. The thing was, I don't think Danzo was counting on meeting this man. He looked pretty surprised to see him. But…..he also didn't look pleased. I don't think the other ninja was happy to see him either. They were both really, really tense around each other. It was like they were going to start fighting at any second. But….the name that I caught, barely caught anyway was….." She had to think for another second. "I believe I heard Madara off of Danzo's lips."

Tsunade blinked in surprise. That was a name she did know but…..it couldn't be true. There was no way it was the same Madara she had heard of. "Madara?" She uttered in her surprise. Her brow furrowed and she stared sternly right at Rin. "Tell me everything that you heard that night and saw."

And Rin complied with her demands.

The next few days were somewhat slow as everyone adjusted to the idea that there were so many new faces in the Leaf Village. Some of the villagers were uneasy with the knowledge of having a Cloud, Mist and the new Shadoai Ninja within their village.

But with the entire Rookie ninja, the young Kazekage and his siblings mingling with them, smiling and joking with them, the unease was slowly starting to wear off.

As it was, Naruto had to have been treated by Tsunade after the fight with Kakuzu and it had been discovered that his arm had been heavily damaged from using his special jutsu. It had been broken in many places and it didn't help that it was his right arm. So it was harder for him to eat his ramen, even with everyone with him. Of course, with Sai trying to help him by feeding him and Naruto freaking out about it, it had everyone laughing as they watched that it was Kakashi who decided to do it.

The funnier part of the entire situation was that Konohamaru showed up and decided to show off a jutsu that had everyone bugged eyed and stunned stupid, though it had Naruto cheering him on. It was Konohamaru's version of Naruto's jutsu, The Double Sexy Harem Jutsu. It did not help that he had two naked ladies apart of his technique, making several blush furiously; minus Naruto and Kankuro. They actually quite enjoyed it.

Much to Sakura and even Sen's disgust. Both of them clocked Naruto and Kankuro hard on the heads, giving them quite large lumps.

"You can't do stupid stuff like that, Konohamaru! That jutsu is completely outrageous and I can't believe you're picking up Naruto's bad habits!" Sakura lectured the young teen boy.

Giving her quite the look for it, Konohamaru performed the jutsu again, only this time it was replaced with a naked Gaara and Sai, embracing.

Once again, faces flushed bright red while Sakura ended up with a nose bleed, staring at the two. Gaara's own face went bright red while he stared at the image of himself and Sai. This was definitely not a sight he wanted to see. Especially with himself entangled with Sai. He couldn't stop himself from smacking Konohamaru upside the head while looking away with a deep blush on his face. Everyone else were either snickering or looking away blushing. They knew better than to say anything about the sight they just saw.

"So," Sen was the one to ask as she looked around at everyone, her eyes mostly lingering on Sai, who was trying his best not to meet her eyes. She slouched a little as she noticed that he was trying to avoid her. She had been trying for the past few days trying to get to know him but he was still really uneasy about knowing who he really was now and still trying to get the hang of having a twin sister now. "So, what are we going to do now? Shouldn't we be hunting down the Akatsuki or even Caligo?"

Sakura sighed as she leaned against Gaara's shoulder, while he was engaged with lecturing Kankuro, who was teasing him about Konohamaru's ridiculous jutsu. The look that the young Kazekage was giving his older brother was enough to kill someone. "I think the only thing we can do right now is rest up and train some more. Now that we have a bigger team and new allies, we're going to need to get used to everyone's fighting skills."

Chiro nodded as he stood against a pole, looking very much like a bodyguard, even with Guren right next to him. The two were, surprisingly, getting along very well after the past few days. And since they were both serving as body guards to Sen and Yukimaru, they figured they would get used to being around each other. "That's the best course of action for now. The sooner we get to training, the better strategies we can come up with."

"Right." Kakashi stated as he turned a page in his Icha Icha book and went on reading. "There's still much for Naruto to even learn. And since Rin is offering to teach Sakura some techniques," He looked over his book at the pretty pink haired young woman. "You'll need to get some training in soon. So the sooner we get back to training, the better."

Gaara and Yagura nodded as they both glanced at one another and then to Yugito Nii as she was chatting away with Tenten and Rock Lee. The young Kazekage couldn't help but spare a small smirk as he watched his former Leaf ninja enjoying being around the Two Tailed Jinchuriki. There was something definitely there between the two.

"As for us, the Jinchuriki," It was Yagura who spoke, his tone quite dead and serious as he looked around at everyone. "We should probably get some training in together." He looked right at Naruto as he perked up, as did Yugito Nii. "Because the Akatsuki is after us, it would serve us better to get to know each other's powers and learn how to work with one another. With all of us working side by side to defending ourselves and each other, we can become that much more powerful."

"And eventually," Gaara added in a raspy tone as he lightly put an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "We will be rid of the Akatsuki for good."

Yugito Nii nodded with a smirk of her own as she shared a glance with her friends, Team Guy. "Well, I'm definitely going to be working with Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji with some more of my Taijutsu but I could use a bigger challenge in a sparring match. No offense, guys." She said, with an apologetic wince to her friends.

"There is no need to apologize, Alea." Lee said with a warm smile. "We understand. It is true that because you are a Jinchuriki, we…..are probably not equal in skills. You proved that while fighting with the Chakra Brothers, after all."

Gaara nodded as he looked directly at Yugito Nii. "Then it's settled. Once we get enough rest, we, the Jinchuriki will have a match against each other and test each other's skills." He stated.

Kakashi snapped his book shut with a coy look as he looked each four over. He was not the only one to look quite taken with the idea. He tore his one eye away from the four young Jinchuriki to look at Rin as she walked up towards them, smiling. "That's a swell idea, Gaara. And I'm sure that is going to be a match that everyone's going to want to watch. Especially with the Fifth Hokage." He said lightly.

Rin nodded as she folded her arms, smiling around at everyone. "She's been wondering when you guys were going to go up against each other. I think even the Elders are looking forward to watching it too." She then looked over at Yugito Nii before reaching into her pack and pulling out a small scroll. "Yugito, before I forget about it. A reply has come from your village. It seems that our fastest hawk served his purpose. We have a message from your Raikage." She told her, holding out the scroll.

An excited squeak escaped from the young Cloud ninja before she scampered over and snatched the message from Rin. She was quick to unrolling it and reading it. She looked excited to even hear back from her adopted father. But as she read what the message said, her face slowly fell.

"Uh-oh. This isn't good." Was the only thing that she could manage to get out, sounding very uneasy.


	32. Chapter Thirty One

Konohagakure's Hokage, Lady Tsunade

For your falsified letter written by our very own, Yugito Nii, you have insulted my intelligence and my honor to making me believe that she is truly alive when I know she is dead. I know for a fact that she is dead because we have searched the entire coast for her body. How you even know about her is beyond my knowledge but I do not care! What blew your lies out of the water was the request of the return of that murdering son of a bitch, Hyuuga's remains! That Leaf tyrant killed our best Shinobi and was given to us to keep peace between our villages!

You, Leaf insects, believe yourself better than all! It is high time that your fires of honor is put out! Expect war at your gates, Lady Hokage, for your insulting words of lies!

I will be sending my most powerful Shinobi to eliminate you and your diseased leaves!

The Sixth Raikage of the HONORABLE Village in the Clouds

Everyone could only gape at the message sent by the Cloud Village. This was not good, and everyone realized that. They knew that this wasn't good. Yugito Nii knew the most. She knew exactly who her adopted father would be sending to see the Leaf's end. It could only be the most powerful Cloud Shinobi that would be sent to destroy the 'offending' Village.

"He will be sending Killer Bee, more than likely." Yugito stated to Tsunade in a grim tone.

After receiving the letter, everyone immediately went to the Hokage to warn her about the threat that was given. It wasn't going to be taken lightly whatsoever. Everyone knew that if war came between Cloud and Leaf, a lot of un-necessary deaths were going to happen.

Tsunade frowned deeply as she tried to think hard about what to do. She could not allow this to happen. She couldn't allow a war to come between them when it could be solved right away.

"Lady Tsunade, what shall we do?" It was Ibiki to ask, in a dead serious tone. "The past occurrences would have us exterminate the object of the threat, which would be Yugito Nii herself." He held up his hand when several protests rose up rather loudly. "Or to hide her away from view, stating that it was just a test to see their reactions."

Yugito Nii immediately shook her head, frowning. "Bee won't see it that way. He will be very mad if you make it sound like a joke. He will probably be angry enough to release Hachibi and trust me. You don't want that! Hachibi is the Eight Tails, after all. Bee was never allowed to release him for a very good reason. He is very powerful and an easily angered spirit. Especially when it comes to me and Nekomata being threatened. He is as protective over us as Killer Bee is. We've been together for so long that we consider each other family." She explained.

Tsunade slowly nodded, understanding what the Two Jinchuriki was saying. She knew it was best to let her take the reins from there, since it was people she knew. "What do you recommend we do with this situation then, Yugito Nii?" She asked Yugito.

The young Cloud Ninja shrugged. "Invite Killer Bee to come with guards to check things out in the village. They won't resist an open invitation to gather Intel. The Cloud Village has been wanting to do that for a while now. When they get here, I can greet them and then they won't want war. I can explain everything to Killer Bee and he will understand what is going on." She told her.

Slowly, everyone nodded. It did make sense and it wasn't a bad idea. Doing it that way would show this Killer Bee that they weren't hiding anything. He would be free to look around and spot Yugito for himself.

So Tsunade nodded and looked at Shizune. "Shizune, have a message sent to Kumo, inviting the Raikage to send Killer Bee here to see for himself that we have Yugito Nii and that she is here willingly. He may send a few ninja with him for his own safety, if it makes them feel better." She told her assistant.

Shizune nodded and bowed before her mentor. "Right away then, my Lady." She told her before leaving.

Once Shizune was gone, the Lady Hokage looked at the four Jinchuriki, smiling rather slyly. "Until Killer Bee's arrival or the return reply from the Raikage, I would like to request an example of what kind of power you four hold. That way, we know what to expect in the fight against the Akatsuki." She said, looking directly at Gaara.

Gaara shared a glance with the other Jinchuriki, meeting Naruto's big grin, as well as Yugito Nii's and then to Yagura's impassive look. He saw that they had no problem with it. Then he looked back at Tsunade. "Agreed, Lady Tsunade. I think its best we did get started on the training." He said in his dull way.

"Good." Tsunade stated. "I think it best if all of you get some rest for tonight and then we will begin tomorrow. We have a lot to do right now to prepare for. Arrange your training to start first thing in the morning. But until then, get some rest." She ordered all of them.

The next morning...

The entire battle field rumbled before the ground exploded with sand, fire and water, causing a quake as the elements clashed together. A battle cry exploded through the air as the blonde leapt into the air, throwing his sample of his Rasengan at the Third Tail Jinchuriki, who easily dodged it, making Naruto curse loudly as he sailed past one of his opponents.

"Hiya!" Came Yugito Nii's own battle cry as she flung herself forward, throwing fire in Gaara's direction, whose sand shield snapped up to block the attack from coming. Fire met sand and the small grains were melted together, creating burning hot glass in its wake.

Gaara had to hand it to Yugito and Yagura. They were pretty good. He had never faced a pair of opponents such as them. The toughest opponent he ever faced had been Deidara, so far, anyway. It was probably going to get tougher with the upcoming opponents.

There was a loud splash of water, making Gaara turn his head to see Yagura was attacking Naruto, sending his blonde friend crashing and rolling across the ground with water trapping him.

'Hm. Better give him a hand then.' The young Kazekage thought before sending sand flying towards his new found friend.

Yagura sensed it coming and turned sharply sending water flying back at him, hitting the sand and rendering it useless. "Is that all you are aiming for?" He asked monotonously.

"No." Gaara answered with a dry smirk.

Yagura's eyes lit up before he turned with a jerk ad saw Naruto coming at him with another Rasangan. He barely had time to jump back as the swirling mass of air hit the ground near him. "I see. Distraction. That is a good team technique." The third tail Jinchuriki said with an amused smirk.

Gaara smirked back before leaping into the air as fire came flying at him. He turned to face Yugito again, blocking some of her taijutsu with a coy smile, which she returned.

"Wow." Was all Sakura could say as she watched with everyone else.

Kakashi had to nod in agreement, looking on with amusement. "My thoughts exactly. Such power these four have together. Naruto, Gaara, the young Cloud ninja and the former Mizukage. If they starting putting their power together, they could very well be unstoppable." He stated.

"The Akatsuki would never know what hit them if we sent these guys into battle against them." Ibiki said in awe as he watched the sparring matches.

Everyone frowned as they looked over at him, knowing what exactly what he was meaning. They knew he was seeing weapons of mass destruction before them.

"They're not our weapons, Ibiki. You're starting to sound like Danzo." Kakashi stated dryly.

Ibiki scowled back at him, shaking his head. "I know they're not, Kakashi. That isn't exactly what I meant. I would never see Gaara or Naruto as weapons. Nor the other two. What I mean is if the Akatsuki attacks, they will have one helluva fight against the Jinchuriki. And if we can convince this Killer Bee, the Eight Tail that Yugito Nii is now our ally and get him to help us, we can end them for good." He said firmly.

Everyone had to admit it but Ibiki was right. If they could have five of the most powerful demons ever to exist to face a terrible threat like the Akatsuki, they could end them.

Still, that was up to the five remaining Jinchuriki. They all knew that Naruto and Gaara wouldn't have a problem with it. And because Gaara, they were sure Yagura wouldn't either. And neither would Yugito Nii. It was just the Eight Tail they had to worry about. They didn't know anything about him other than what Yugito Nii told them. She was so sure that he wouldn't mind joining them to taking down the Akatsuki.

Still it was very un-reassuring to know that he could very well be on his way to Konoha with the intent of destroying the Leaf Village because of the belief of Tsunade lying to them.

They knew it wouldn't be too long before...

Suddenly the Jinchuriki halted all at once as everyone felt a chakra signature approaching. They all turned to watch as an ANBU landed heavily on the ground next to Ibiki. This ANBU, however, was a woman, obviously. She had long violent purple hair spilling all the way down her back side in waves while her mask was of a wolf's face. She had twin katana strapped on her back while she did wear the uniform of an ANBU.

"Ibiki-Taichou," she spoke, her voice serenade and moon like but with an urgency. "ANBU scouts have reported sightings of a large group of Shinobi entering the Fire Country, all armed and prepped for war. They are Cloud ninja."

Everyone stiffened in alarm and Yugito sucked in a deep, uneasy breath. She knew that it must have been Killer Bee. It had to be. "He's come too soon. My Raikage must have sent Killer Bee and an army as soon as they got the letter from Lady Tsunade. He must be really angry to have done that." She murmured worriedly.

Ibiki frowned deeply, his entire large frame tense but he immediately looked to Yugito, who met his scornful gaze. He knew what she wanted to be there to stop a terrible battle from breaking out. He knew if the Eight Tail was amongst this group of Cloud Shinobi, she was the only one to be able to calm him.

"Scouts are currently awaiting orders to attack the invading army, Taichou. What are your orders?" The ANBU asked after a moment of uneasy silence.

Ibiki ignored the sharp gasp from the Two Tail Jinchuriki as he turned to face the ANBU. "Order the retreat, Wolf. Tell them to back off and do not allow them to fight." His order surprised everyone but they saw his reason. "We will approach the army, our selves, along with our Jinchuriki allies." He said firmly.

The ANBU, Wolf hesitated for a second before she sharply bowed to him. "Very well, Taichou. I will give the order immediately." She said before she was gone in a flash.

Ibiki then turned to look back at the four Jinchuriki, who were moving closer. "Well, let's go greet the Eight Tail." He told them and everyone, who all nodded with seriousness.

Immediately, the group of shinobi took to the trees, running and jumping as fast as they could. The sooner they could get to the Cloud Ninja, the better. They wanted to avoid as much fighting as they could. Especially when the Eight Tails were involved. Along the way, it did not go un-noticed that Yugito was in a fit of nerves. Everyone could see it and everyone could feel it.

It was Rock Lee who found himself running beside her, smiling at her in comfort. "It will be okay, Yugito Nii! Killer Bee will be happy to see you and he will understand." He told her.

Smiling at him faintly, Yugito Nii nodded. "I know, Lee. I just...I guess I am just nervous. It has been so long now since I last saw him. He won't believe it's me at first. Ad I really hope he doesn't try and start a fight. Because he is the strongest ninja I know. All because of the Eight Tails." She told him.

Suddenly, a wave of Chakra washed over everyone, making all of them tense up. There was a powerful signature just up ahead and it didn't take much to realize that there was fighting going on.

Yugito Nii felt her heart clench as she recognized that Chakra. "Bee...He's fighting! He must be in trouble! Otherwise he wouldn't be using Hachibi's chakra!" She gasped before pushing herself forward and hard, nearly breaking a branch in two from her heels.

"Yugito Nii! No! Don't go ahead! It could be the Akatsuki!" Ibiki yelled up to her.

Yugito shook her head, her eyes narrowing. She hoped it was the Akatsuki. She wanted a reason to join the fight to defend her oldest friend. "If it is, I will burn them to a crisp! No one messes with Killer Bee without me burning them! They will regret the day they tried to harm him!" She snarled, kicking harder until she was nearly yards ahead of everyone.

Frowning, Gaara shared a glance with Naruto and Yagura. All three nodded, understanding what he didn't have to say. And they soon kicked off their branches hard until they were racing right beside Yugito.

"Tch! Damn all of them! They're not using their heads!" Ibiki growled in irritation.

Kakashi shook his head as he began moving faster to catch up with the Jinchuriki. "It isn't that, Ibiki! They are serving as each other's back up! They're doing exactly what we wanted them to do! Back each other up!" He called over.

"What if it really is Akatsuki, Kakashi-Sensei?! Shouldn't they be careful?!" Sakura called over with worry as she ran beside Temari and Sen.

Kakashi snorted, his one revealed eye narrowing in mirth. "If it is an Akatsuki, Kami have mercy on them." He merely stated.

The fighting was not much farther along. It was obvious with the shouting and cheering, as well as ripped up trees and nature fleeing from a large clearing.

The group soon realized very quickly that it wasn't Akatsuki that the Clouds were fighting. They realized that by seeing a few Leaf ANBU just lying there in branches, heavily injured. They looked like they had received the beatings of their lives.

"Uh oh." Yugito Nii said before she slid to a quick stop on a branch, having to catch herself from falling out when she got a good look at what was before all of them.

Before the many different shinobi was a large clearing where ANBU were lying all around the ground. Some were seriously hurt but none of the injuries were life threatening. It just looked like they were beaten badly.

In the middle of it all, everyone saw the ANBU from before, Wolf, on the ground, shuddering heavily from pain of the beating she had just gotten. Her katana were flung across the clearing away from her reach, so she was unarmed. She was trying to crawl away from her obvious beater while so many Cloud ninja were yelling and cheering from the opposite trees. They were cheering on their leader. Wolf's mask was no longer on its owner's face, revealing such a pretty face, though it now had a large bruise forming on her left cheek. The mask, itself, was near her, which she was quickly reaching for.

But a dark skinned sandal covered foot stomped down hard on it, shattering the ceramic piece.

"You, Leaf Ninja, don't need that no more. Still, I don't feel bad that's for sure! You think you, Leaves, are the best! But I think you just failed the test! You sure thought you were good enough! Well, you ain't so tough! You thought you could take on me!" Came that ever so familiar voice that had Yugito Nii's eyes widen, even as the ninja raised a fist to swing fast hard probably to knock out Wolf. "Well, guess what, Bitch, you just got stung by the Killer...!"

"Killer Bee! NO! STOP!" Yugito Nii yelled at the top of her lungs.

But it was almost too late. Her large friend swung his fist, not hearing her over all of the yelling.

Suddenly, there was a black gloved hand snapping out of nowhere, catching the fist from slamming into Wolf's face.

The cheers and yells immediately died as surprised Cloud Ninja looked down at the black garbed Ibiki Morino standing over the Leaf ANBU, his face now in a grimace of pain. He had felt something crack in his own hand from catching this giant of a Shinobi's fist.

Nonetheless, Ibiki got a good look at the one called Killer Bee.

Killer Bee was exactly how Yugito Nii remembered him. He was a mountain of a man with dark skin, bleached yellow hair and was wearing exactly what he did when she last saw him. His eyes were hidden by round black sunglasses, keeping any from seeing them. He even had all of his blades and swords strapped to his back. Though, he did look surprised to see that someone had caught his fist.

"I think that is enough, Killer Bee, I presume that is you?" Ibiki said, his deep voice dark but had a hint of pain in it.

Killer Bee tilted his head curiously before he gave Ibiki a smirk. "Yeah, I am Killer Bee. Who're you, Leaf? Why you butting up in my business? Back way or I will mess up your schizzness."

Ibiki shook his head as he narrowed his eyes. "I don't know why you attacked my ANBU but I won't allow you to hurt any of them anymore. Please back off." He said firmly now releasing Killer Bee's fist and stepping back.

"I don't think so, Mofo." Killer Bee said firmly before he snapped out his foot and kicked a startled Ibiki hard in the chest, sending him flying back in a blur. He even charged to attack again only to suddenly find a wall of sand blocking his path. "What the...?!"

Suddenly Gaara was there, standing between him and Ibiki, who growled in pain and anger as he climbed back to his feet, holding his now painfully aching chest. "He asked you to stand down, Killer Bee. I suggest you do that." The Kazekage said with a rasp.

Just then, there were several thuds all around them and Killer Bee turned to see a sunny haired Naruto, a blank faced Yagura, a weirdly grinning Gai prepped for a fight, and several others standing around him. He, however, didn't see the one directly behind him. He was paying more attention to how many Leaf ninja headbands that were being worn by the Shinobi standing around him.

"Hmm. A bunch of cowardly Leaves think can take on the Killer Bee?" Killer Bee snorted before he shifted into a stance. "Don't really know how you know me. But I am going to show you what..."

"Bee, stop already. It's okay. They're friends."

Killer Bee went completely rigid and it was obvious he had been taken by surprise. His head came up sharply before he slowly turned it to look behind him. And his covered eyes laid directly on Yugito Nii standing beside Rock Lee, with Tenten and Neji behind them. Sakura and Rin were quickly moving through the injured now, checking them for wounds and now healing them. The others stood in a crow around them.

But nonetheless, Killer Bee stared at Yugito Nii, his mouth hanging open. He even heard surprised murmurs from his Cloud Ninja as they too looked on her with shock and alarm.

"Yugito Nii?" Killer Bee muttered, completely stunned. He slowly stood up fully and turned to face her. "I cannot be. I thought you were dead. I thought you fell from the cliff's stead." Then his face darkened and he growled, taking nearly everyone by surprise. "This is a Leaf's lie, isn't it?! You are not my little kit!"

Yugito, however, smirked while everyone was tensed up. "Oh, yeah, Bee? Why don't you just prove it isn't me? And quit your damn rapping and yapping. You know how much it annoys me, Bee." She said smartly, her hands now on her waist and she shifted her weight.

There was a dead pause of surprise before a slow grin made its way onto Killer Bee's face. He was suddenly gone in a blur.

"Whoa! Where'd he go!" Naruto exclaimed, no one having seen him move at all. He, like everyone, was looking around with shock, looking for him.

Yugito Nii, however, smirked as her head dipped down low. "Lee, Tenten, Neji, you might want to step back." She glanced at them, seeing how surprised they looked. "Trust me. If you're in his way, he is going to run you over. It's a game we used to play. Just watch and wait. Don't anyone try to stop him from attacking. He will run you over if you get in his way." She warned.

Her three team mates looked at each other than her with concern but they slowly moved to get away from her. Though, Lee had hesitated. He didn't like the sound of this at all.

But just as he had moved, they felt a sudden burst of chakra. It had appeared so suddenly that everyone had tensed up. Lee had spun around just in time see a meaty fist swipe right under his nose and slam right against a burning fiery fist belonging to Yugito Nii. Fire laced up and down her arm, slowly forming all around her until she was nearly engulfed in it. And the smirk on her face was full of wicked delight. She was enjoying herself.

"Fire heats up rock and makes it crack, burns paper to ash, and when heated up to intensive temperatures, melts scissors. I win, Bee."

A wide grin spread out on Killer Bee's face before he swung his other arm until it was around Yugito Nii's waist, where he pulled her into a bone cracking hug. "My little cat! Where you been at?! I thought you dead! But here ya are instead!" He cheered happily.

It couldn't be helped but everyone, Leaf, Sand, Shadow, Mist and Cloud smiled.

"It's a really long story, Bee." Yugito said laughing as she extinguished her flames and hugged him back.

After a moment of tension between ninja, Yugito gave Killer Bee a quick summary of what had happened when the two Akatsuki attacked the Cloud Village. She explained to him where she went, where she was and why she was now friends with Leaf Shinobi. She even told him her moment of revenge against the two who threatened them and their Raikage.

Killer Bee, however, frowned the entire time. He looked quite serious when she told him everything and even more to learn that she was now allies with the Leaf Ninja.

"Yu, you know don't we don't get along with the Leaf. With them, we got beef." Killer Bee told her as soon as she finished.

Yugito Nii shook her head as she folded her arms and stepped back to stand next to Team Gai. "Not any more we don't, Bee. They're my friends. And we have a common enemy. The Akatsuki are trying to hurt their Jinchuriki too. And I am going to help them take those bastards down, Bee? You with me?" She asked, now giving him a pleading look.

Killer Bee groaned, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. He stared off for a moment before looking back at her. "Big Bro ain't gonna like this, lil' cat. He's gonna be pissed, you know that?" He said gravely.

Yugito scowled for a second before her eyes lit up with a strange glint. She fought back a smirk as she down turned her lips, pouting and then finally sniffling. She saw everyone stiffen in surprise but her eyes were only on Killer Bee as he suddenly winced. "Yu, don't start. I mean it." He finally spoke out of his rhymes.

But the little firecat kept it up as her eyes watered until tears were now trailing down her cheeks and she sniffled harder.

"Is she...really crying?" Yagura asked a bewildered Gaara.

Team Gai all smirked, remembering something that Yugito Nii told them back in the Water Country. They all knew exactly what she was doing.

"Yep! She's gonna cry." Tenten said cheerfully.

Yugito suddenly burst into tears, her hands balling up and she began rubbing at her eyes. "Wahhhhh! Bee! You're so mean! I just want to help the Leaf Ninja get rid of those meanies, the Akatsuki! And...and...sniff...I wa-want to help Ga-Gaara, and Naruto, and Yag-Yagura to protect us! We...w-we're the last rem-remaining Jin-Jinchuriki! We have to stand together!" She cried, her shoulders shaking violently as she cried harder.

All around the entire group every one of the Cloud Ninja were either looking flabbergasted or grimacing with sweat drops trailing down the sides of their faces.

"Ah, man. She just had to pull the crying card, didn't she? Bee never could resist that." One muttered pathetically.

Killer Bee sighed heavily, his large shoulders slumping as he shed his own sweat drop before he step over to Yugito and wrapped her up into his brawny arms. "All right, all right, Yugito Nii. I give, I give. Stop crying. I will talk to Big Bro and convince him to form an alliance with the Leaf, the Sand, the Mist and the Shadows. Just stop that, my lil' cat." He said miserably.

Yugito immediately dried her crocodile tears as she hugged her big friend back and gave the others a peace sign with her fingers. It couldn't be helped that everyone smiled or chuckled, shaking their heads. They knew her tactics were only to convince Killer Bee to join them in facing the Akatsuki. They were all just happy that it had worked. They wouldn't have really wanted to face the Eight Tails. It would have only caused some serious problems.

"So, why did you attack the Leaf ANBU?" It was Kakashi who asked as the entire group lead the Cloud Ninja back towards Konoha.

Killer Bee, with his large arm hanging over Yugito Nii's shoulder, looked over at the Copy Nin before shaking his head. "Caught them slinking in the bushes, Bro. I thought it was rude not to say Hello. Sides, one of 'em attacked first. So I decided to show them how to really curse." He said with a shrug.

Everyone frowned, though Ibiki looked to the ANBU, Wolf, who nodded towards another ANBU. So he looked to that one instead. "Ox," he said darkly, getting that ANBU's attention. "When we get back to the village, report to my office. "

The ANBU obviously winced but nodded his affirmation. He knew he was in trouble. Even after Ibiki had ordered the retreat of the ANBU, he still went ahead and attacked.

"So, five Jinchuriki now allied together. This should be interesting for the Akatsuki. Ibiki's right. They won't know what hit them." Kakashi said to Rin and Chiro with amusement.

And the two smiled, nodding in agreement.


End file.
